


Aunt May and Uncle Ben's Boys

by acmparker



Category: Spider-Man (Comicverse), Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon 2012)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 11:38:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14236473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acmparker/pseuds/acmparker
Summary: Peter Parker tells his Aunt and Uncle about his powers.





	1. Peter

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a fan fic. Any feedback will be appreciated.

Peter Parker groaned as he tossed feverishly in his bed. He hated to miss even one day of school. Even though understanding of the material came easily to him, particularly in math and science, he had trouble keeping up with his work. A missed day would put him even farther behind. His thoughts turned to the field trip the day before. He had been really excited to visit the Oscorp labs and they were as interesting as he had expected it to be. Until that spider had bit him. He had been feeling miserable ever since. That was why his Aunt May had insisted he stay home from school that morning. With his mind full of all the fascinating things he'd seen in the lab he turned over and drifted to sleep again.

 

When May Parker peeked into Peter’s bedroom later that day he was sleeping peacefully. As she watched him sleep she thought about when she had first met Peter. He was only four when Mary and Richard had left him with them. May had gotten the impression that it wasn't the first time he had been left with strangers by his parents. He hardly seemed to miss them at all but he clung to May and Ben, unwilling to let them out of his sight for long. Peter had been small for his age but full of energy, he had never seemed to stop asking questions about everything. At sixteen he was no longer short but he was still skinny and full of energy. He had also learned to answer his own questions through research and study since he was long past the kind of questions that May could answer for him. Peter was looking a lot better already. She was sure he would be fine by morning.

 

The alarm blared in Peter’s ear. Startled he leapt straight up and landed crouched on the ceiling above his bed, and stuck there. Blearily he looked around his inverted room trying to figure out what had happened.  _ I must be still dreaming _ he thought as he realized where he was. But this didn’t feel like a dream and the alarm was still going off. Carefully the teen pulled his hands off the ceiling and found himself standing, hanging upside down. From that position he was able to reach the alarm clock so he hit the snooze button. Now to figure out how to get back down.

 

Peter carefully crouched and placed his hands flat on the ceiling and then pushed his feet off. That put him right side up with his feet on the bed and he was able to pull his hands off of the ceiling and sit down. He picked up his alarm clock to turn it off properly and crushed it in his hand. Dumbfounded Peter stared at what had been his clock. He didn’t know what was going on but he knew what he had to do.

 

Moving very carefully to ensure that he didn’t destroy anything else, Peter got dressed and left his room. His Aunt and Uncle were waiting for him in the kitchen, like they did every morning. Peter took a deep breath. “Something weird is happening. I woke up stuck to the ceiling this morning.”

 

May and Ben Parker stared at Peter. Their nephew realized that he needed to show them or they would never believe it. Peter swung into a handstand and pushed up. As he expected he was able to launch himself onto the kitchen ceiling and stick there. “I think it had something to do with that spider that bit me the other day.”  He continued from his new position. “I also accidentally crushed my alarm clock.” He waited nervously for their response.

 

Aunt May shook herself and spoke briskly. “Well you had better get yourself off of the ceiling and have some breakfast. We can all think better with some food inside of us.”  

 

Relieved Peter dropped back down to the floor and sat at the table. Telling his Aunt and Uncle had been the right move. They would help him figure out how to deal with his new abilities.

 

Preoccupied with their thoughts, the three Parkers ate silently. Aunt May broke the silence. “I don't think we should tell anyone else about this yet. After all Peter should be able to live as normal a life as possible and that will only be possible if no one knows about his new powers.”

 

“You're right Aunt May. I don't know how the kids at school would react and I don't really want to find out.” replied Peter.

 

Uncle Ben finished his last swallow of coffee and said.

 

“It seems to me that the first thing we need is to figure out exactly what you can do.”

 

That was when Peter realized he needed to leave for school. As he grabbed his backpack and took the lunch Aunt May handed him he agreed with his Uncle. “We'll work on that as soon as I get home this afternoon.”

 

“Just a minute, Peter.”  Uncle Ben said. “Remember you don't know your own strength. Be very careful. You don't want to end up hurting someone or damaging property.”

 

Thinking of his alarm clock laying in pieces on his desk. Peter soberly nodded. He would be very careful.

 

Peter grabbed his skateboard and headed to school. To his delight he realized that his new strength made him really fast. He suspected he could travel even faster if he didn't need to avoid being conspicuous. With his new speed he even made it to school early instead of racing the bell like he usually did. He climbed the steps and entered the school, marveling at how easy it was to move the heavy doors.

 

Flash Thompson grinned as he saw Peter walk into the school. Even though he hated school, Flash was there bright and early each day. Any excuse to get out of the house and away from his father. Still hanging around waiting for class to start was boring so he spent his time looking for a target. Peter Parker was his favorite. “Hey, it’s Puny Parker. What a wimp. Missing school because of a little spider bite. How are you feeling now Puny. Do you want Aunt May to come and kiss it better for you?”  Flash laughed at his own remark and then frowned. Peter hadn’t responded at all. He just continued to his locker and opened it to put his jacket and skateboard away. “Hey Puny, have you gone deaf, I was speaking to you.”

 

Peter turned and looked at Flash. His fists clenched, he was prepared to finally put the bigger boy in his place. Flash wouldn’t know what had hit him. Then he remembered his alarm clock that morning. If he tried to beat up Flash he would probably kill him. The realization shocked him so much that he couldn’t make his usual smart remark in response. So he just turned back to his locker, his shoulders tensed as he waited for Flash’s next move.

 

Flash flushed with anger and started towards Peter. He wasn’t going to let that wimp get away with ignoring him like that. Then a concerned voice rang out.

 

“Hey Peter!  How are you feeling?” It was MJ Watson, the most popular girl in school and a good friend to Peter. Flash didn’t dare start anything with MJ there. She had ways of getting revenge that Flash didn’t even want to think about. Peter turned and smiled at the redhead.

 

“Hi, MJ. I’m feeling great. Better than usual even. I think I really needed that day off. Although I’m not looking forward to catching up on all the work I missed. Is Gwen around?”

 

Just then a pretty blond entered the school and ran into Peter’s arms. Peter gently wrapped his arms around her and kissed her as if they had been apart for months rather than for a little over a day. The students around them whooped and laughed. Everyone knew the two were an item but they usually kept the PDA to a minimum during school hours. Gwen Stacey drew back and blushed.

 

“I was really worried about you, Peter. You looked awful when you went home on Wednesday. I thought you were really sick.”

 

“I’m all right. As I was just telling MJ I think I was run down and needed a day off. I slept most of yesterday and now I feel great.”

 

Gwen blushed again. “I can tell”  she murmured. Then she moved away from Peter to go to her locker. After she got her books the three friends headed for their first class together. When they got there Peter borrowed MJ’s notes from the previous day, so that he could go over them before class started. Gwen always had better marks than MJ but MJ took the best notes.

 

As Peter had expected, it was a busy day. Most of his teachers were understanding and told him to just make sure he understood the material he had missed but he still had a lot of stuff to catch up on. Luckily, his last class of the day was Math, so he was able to get a lot of his homework done during that class. He listened to the teachers lecture with half an ear while he worked on his homework from his other classes. This drove his math teacher crazy but she knew that if she called on him he would be able to answer her questions correctly without missing a beat. Getting him to explain how he came up with his answers was another matter.

 

When Math class ended Peter stuffed his books and papers into his backpack and headed for his locker. Gwen was already there, waiting for him, so after he retrieved his skateboard and jacket they left the school together. Gwen’s parents were coming to pick her up on their way out of town for the weekend so Peter hung out with her until they arrived. After he kissed Gwen goodbye he hopped on his skateboard and headed home, eager to find out what Uncle Ben would have waiting for him. 

 

“Well, I made it through the day without breaking anything else.” Peter announced as he came through the door.

 

“I’m glad to hear that” responded his Uncle Ben. “Now, let’s see what you can do with this.” and Ben handed his nephew a steel bar. Peter examined the bar and then slowly bent it into a U. He then proceeded to bend and crush the steel until it was an unrecognizable lump of metal. In the process the steel broke at a weak point and Peter cut his hand on it. As he held out his hand so that his Uncle could see the injury, the two of them saw the bleeding stop and the cut close up until it looked like it was at least a day old.

 

“OK, you have enhanced healing as well as super strength.”  Ben Parker wrote in the notebook he was holding.

 

“Even though you don't really look any different, you obviously have increased muscle mass. I bet you weigh more than you used to. Now let's see how much you can lift. I borrowed some weights from our neighbours.”

 

Peter and his Uncle experimented until Aunt May called them to supper. As they ate their meal Ben looked through his notebook and summarized their findings.

 

“It seems that Peter is super strong and has enhanced healing abilities. He can also stick to surfaces with his hands and feet. Peter thinks his sense of balance is better than before but that is hard to test since it was already pretty good. He reflexes are also much better. It's almost like he can sense an object thrown at him even before he can see it.”

 

“You were throwing things at Peter! In the house!” Aunt May exclaimed.

 

“Just foam balls, dear, and we were careful. It was necessary for our experiments.” Ben replied sheepishly. “Anyways, all of these things do correspond to some extent to a spider's abilities but Peter can't spin web and he is not venomous.”

 

“I think I can do something about the web spinning.” Peter said as he finished his supper, “but I'm ok with not being venomous.” Peter cleared the table and then helped his Uncle Ben with the dishes before heading to the spare room which had been fixed up as a laboratory for him. His Aunt and Uncle knew that was the last they would see of him for the evening.

 

Peter was up bright and early Saturday morning, eager for his usual Yoga session with his Aunt May. Something he had done every Saturday morning for as long as he could remember. There were positions that he had been unable to achieve since his growth spurt because he wasn't strong enough for his new size. They were no problem now. Even the most advanced positions came easily and he enjoyed the feeling of being completely present in his body as he moved. He really only felt this way while doing Yoga or riding his skateboard which was why he loved those activities so much. 

 

When their Yoga session was done Peter and May moved to the next part of their Saturday morning routine, pancakes. May got out a bowl and started gathering the ingredients. As she worked she asked Peter to crack the eggs for her. Peter very carefully removed an egg from the carton and tapped in gently against the counter. The egg didn’t crack. Peter tried again but this time he used too much force and there was egg everywhere.

 

“Never mind” said Aunt May. “I bought plenty of eggs, try again.”

 

It took a while and a lot of eggs but Peter finally had cracked enough eggs to make the pancakes. As he cleaned up the mess he had made, Aunt May started to cook.

 

“That should help you get some control over your new strength”, she said. 

 

Peter grinned as he realized his Aunt had planned the whole thing. He set the table for breakfast as the first pancakes cooked and sat down to eat. Uncle Ben came into the kitchen as Aunt May put them on the table and joined Peter. As he took his first bite of pancake smothered in peanut butter and syrup, Peter realized he was ravenous. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in days.

 

After breakfast Ben pulled out his notebook again. “It looks like your powers come with an increased appetite as well. You probably have a faster metabolism, which would account for the speed at which you heal. We had better allow for a larger grocery budget, May.”

 

Peter’s heart sank. He already felt that he cost his Aunt and Uncle too much. He knew that they had sacrificed a lot to take him in when his parents died and he hated to be a bigger burden on them than he already was. He tried to help out around the house as much as he could and he really tried hard to be good and do well at school. But no matter how hard he tried, he always felt that he fell short. After all he was always forgetting things and making stupid mistakes. He no longer got into trouble in school as much as he used to but he still was constantly behind in his school work. And now he was going to cost them even more.

 

Peter got up and quickly began clearing the table. He needed to find a way to make some money he decided. With this resolution made, he started thinking about his work in the lab. “I need to go out and get some stuff.”  He announced as he went to his room to get the last of his birthday money. His mind full of his latest project he left to do his shopping.

 

When Peter got back to the apartment he disappeared into his lab, emerging only to eat and sleep. May settled down with a sewing project and Ben went through the notes he had made the day before and made some plans for the next stage of helping Peter control his newfound strength. The rest of the weekend passed quietly.

 

Monday morning, Peter woke up with his alarm, only to fall back into bed with a groan. He had been so caught up in his new project that he had forgotten about his homework again. Why was he so bad at remembering stuff. Well, it was too late to do anything about it now. Maybe if he got to school quickly enough he could get some work done before his first class started.

 

When Peter arrived at his locker Flash was already there. He waited until Peter had opened his locker and the jeered. “Hey Puny Parker. MJ isn’t here so you can’t hide behind her skirts this time. Now, I’m going to finish what I started.”

 

Flash reached for Peter but his hands closed on empty air. Peter had ducked out of the way almost before Flash had started to move.  _ What just happened,  _ Peter wondered. Somehow he knew exactly when Flash was going to go for him and had moved out of the way without even having to think about it. Peter grinned, “What’s the matter Flash, are you starting to slow down in your old age.”

 

Then Peter looked at the shock in Flash’s face and his own smile faded.  _ Oh no!  I shouldn’t have been able to do that. If Flash figures it out, he will tell the whole school I’m some sort of freak. My life as I know it will be over.  _ As these thoughts passed through Peter’s mind, Flash recovered from his shock and went for him again. This time Peter deliberately held still and let Flash shove him in his locker.  _ At least I’m flexible enough to fit easily, _ thought Peter as his locker door closed on him.

 

Peter pulled out his phones and texted his friend Harry. Hopefully, Harry would get to the school before Gwen did. Peter didn’t want her to see him like this. Fortunately, he didn’t have long to wait before the locker door opened again and Peter looked up to see Harry Osborne looking down on him. 

 

“Flash did it again did he?”  He said, giving Peter a hand up.

 

“Thanks, Harry.”  Peter unfolded himself from his locker and gave his friend a fist bump. He wanted so badly to tell Harry all about his new abilities but what if he reacted badly. Peter and Harry had been friends for a long time but they seemed to be drifting apart recently. Peter wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out how Harry would feel about him being some sort of mutant. He would just have to keep it a secret.

 

Just then Gwen and MJ arrived. Peter kissed Gwen and asked her how her weekend had gone.

 

“Oh, the usual. Family bonding time and all that. It was pretty good. How was yours?”

 

“Oh Uh… Nothing much happened. Just did some baking with Aunt May and worked on stuff my lab.”  Peter squeaked.  _ Stupid. What if they ask about what you are working on. Come on think, Parker.  _ To his relief the bell rang at that moment. “We don’t want to be late for class.”  Peter said as he turned sharply, almost colliding with the row of lockers, and headed for their first class.

 

Peter had a hard time focusing on school that day. Keeping this secret was going to be harder than he thought. But he had to do it. Who would want to have anything to do with a mutant with spider powers, his social life wasn’t great as it was. Also, if too many people found out he would probably end up in a lab somewhere being experimented on.

 

As the week wore on Peter found himself living a double life. At school he tried to be as normal as possible so that no one would suspect anything. At home, with his Aunt and Uncle, he was testing his powers and learning how to control his new strength. He was also putting the finishing touches on his latest invention. He couldn’t wait to show it off to Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

 

As soon as Peter arrived home from school on Friday afternoon he went straight to his lab. A little more testing and his invention would be ready to show off. After the supper dishes were done that evening he retrieved his gadgets from the lab and demonstrated them. First he shot a small web onto the wall of the living room. Then he shot out a rope of webbing onto the ceiling and hung from it to demonstrate how strong it was. When he saw the look on Aunt May’s face, Peter reassured her that the webbing would dissolve in a couple of hours and would be very easy to clean up at that point.

 

“I guess we better entertain any visitors in the kitchen until it dissolves then,”  chuckled Uncle Ben.

 

Aunt May then showed Peter what she had been working on that week. She had made him a red and blue costume with a web design and a spider logo on the chest. There were thin gloves and boots to go with it and a mask with large white eyes. “Now you can go and practice outside of the apartment without anyone knowing who you are,”  she said. “Do you like it?”

 

Like it?  I love it!  Aunt May, you are the best! Thank you!”  Peter went and tried on the suit and posed for his Aunt and Uncle.

 

“It fits you very well.”  said Aunt May, “You look very manly, dear.”

 

“Very spider-manly,” Uncle Ben joked.

 

“That’s it!  I’m Spider-Man,”  exclaimed Peter as he put on his wrist web-slingers that he had been showing off over the gloves of his new outfit. “I’m going to try it out right now.”

 

Spider-Man headed for the window and climbed out onto the side of the building. Clinging to the bricks he headed for the roof. “Don’t forget to be home at a reasonable time, Spider-Man,”  called Aunt May out the window as he disappeared from sight. She sighed as she turned back into the room.

 

“You’re the one who made him a spider suit,” teased Uncle Ben.

 

“Do you really think he wouldn’t have gone out without the suit? At least this way no one will recognize him.”

 

Spider-Man stood on the roof of his apartment building and took a deep breath. He had been planning this moment for the past week as he worked on perfecting his web-slingers. He knew it would work but now that the moment had come he was nervous. He selected a spot near the roof of another building and launched a web line at it, once it had stuck he swung himself off of the roof of the building he was on. As he swung he looked for the next target he had picked out and launched another line. He let go of his first line and continued to swing. Peter laughed out loud. It worked just like he had hoped it would. He could continue in this manner as long as he didn’t run out of tall buildings and it was great! He felt like he could fly!

 

Whooping with delight, Spider-Man swung through the city, high above the streets, until finally he had to stop to catch his breath. He landed on the side of a building and clung there, letting himself come off of the adrenaline high. That’s when he heard the scream. Frantically searching the streets below him Peter finally found the source of the scream in a nearby alley. A mugging was taking place as he watched. A man holding a knife had just taken the purse from a woman and it looked like he was demanding her jewelry as well. 

 

Spider-Man didn’t even think about whether it was a good idea or not. He knew he could intervene and stop the crook if he move quickly. So he swung down into the alley and landed facing the mugger. The criminal’s eyes widened with shock and he lunged knife first at Peter. Spider-Man instinctively twisted away from the knife and pushed his assailant away from him in a single smooth movement. The man flew through the air and  hit the wall on the other side of the alley with a sickening thud. Peter stared at the huddled shape on the ground. Had he just killed someone?

 

To Peter’s relief the man groaned and started to move. Quickly, Spider-Man shot out webbing pinning the man to the ground. He then cautiously approached the immobilized mugger. To his relief the only damage appeared to be a bump on the head. The man was at least very definitely alive. Peter picked up the purse and turned to return it to its owner. The woman was standing plastered against the side of the alley with her phone out.

 

“I’m on the line with a 911 operator right now,”  she said shakily. “The police will be here any moment, so don’t come any nearer.”

 

“That’s a relief. Are you alright Ma’am?”  asked Spider-Man, lowering his voice to try and sound older than 16. “Did he injure you in any way?”

 

“I’m alright.”  The woman relaxed a bit. “Who are you anyways?  **What** are you?”

 

“Me?  I’m just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man at your service.” He made a florid bow. “I will stay with you until the police arrived if that is ok with you.” He held out the woman’s purse to her.

 

The woman stepped forward and retrieved her purse, then backed up again. At least she didn’t look terrified anymore, just a little wary. Peter stood there a minute and then he leaned against the wall across the alley from the woman. He pressed his hands against the wall and carefully lifted his feet up until they were tucked up under him, the soles pressed against the wall. Once he had arranged himself comfortably on the wall he looked up to find the woman staring at him. “Spider-Man, it’s not just my name it's what I am.” He quipped. “I stick to walls, not the roof of your mouth. No, wait! That’s terrible! I need some better material.”

 

The woman smiled shakily at him. “Thank you for stopping the mugger. This necklace is really special to me.”  Spider-Man smiled back, relieved that she had finally relaxed. 

 

When the police car pulled up at the end of the alley Spider-Man leapt upwards off of the wall and swung away into the night.  _ I'm going to be late. I hope Aunt May doesn't ground me.  _

 

When Peter crawled back through the window of his apartment his Aunt and Uncle were waiting for him. “Lost track of the time, Spider-Man?”, Uncle Ben inquired.

 

“I was delayed, I stopped a mugging and had to stay with the victim until the police arrived.” Peter told his Aunt and Uncle about the incident. “I’m a little worried about how badly I may have hurt the mugger, though. I thought I had killed him at first,” he finished.

 

“You’re going to Gwen’s place tomorrow. Maybe you can find out about him from her father.” suggested Uncle Ben.

 

“What am I supposed to tell him?  I threw a mugger against a wall and I think I might have seriously injured him? I can’t tell him the truth and even if I did he wouldn’t believe it.”

 

“Tell him you’re working on a make up project for school and ask him about crimes that happened last night.” Aunt May suggested. “He should accept that and give you the information you need. And now that that is settled you need to get to bed and Ben needs to get to work. We’ll talk more about this in the morning.”

 

The next morning Peter and his Aunt had their usual yoga session and pancake breakfast. As they finished breakfast Aunt May said, “Uncle Ben and I talked about what happened last night. I don’t like you risking yourself like that.”

 

“I wasn’t in any danger, Aunt May. As I told you earlier this week I have a sixth sense that warns me of attack and enables me to get out of the way. I could probably dodge a bullet... Not that I’m planning to try that.”  Peter added quickly.

 

“I’m not so sure you weren’t in any danger, Peter but I accept that you couldn’t just do nothing in a situation like that when you did have the power to intercede. But I want you to be careful. Don’t take any foolish risks.”

 

“We are proud of you for what you did last night.” added Uncle Ben. “We won’t stop you from going out as Spider-Man but remember that with great power comes great responsibility. You must use this power responsibly, not only for the sake of others but for yourself. It is good for you to use your new abilities to help others but you must also keep up your grades and take care of yourself. Don’t endanger yourself unnecessarily.”

 

“I will be careful.” Peter assured them.  _ Last night was great,  _ he thought,  _ I can really make a difference. I can be a hero.  _ He would be careful so as not to worry Aunt May but Spider-Man was going to be out there. Using his powers to help others in any way he could.

 

After Uncle Ben’s lecture Peter decided that he should actually do his homework for once. He had just started on it when his Uncle called him over to the computer. “I don’t think you have to worry about an excuse to talk to Captain Stacy about last night.”

 

Peter looked at the picture of the screen. The quality was poor but it was definitely a picture of Spider-Man clinging to the wall in the alley. Peter exclaimed, “The woman last night, she must have taken my picture with her cell phone. I never even noticed.”

 

“What does it say?” asked Aunt May.

 

“It’s an interview with the woman Peter rescued last night. Her story seems to match Peter’s pretty well. The interviewer seems to be trying to make a big deal about how scared she was by Spider-Man at first, though,” Uncle Ben answered.

 

“Let me see.” Peter quickly read through the story.  _ Phew she didn’t mention my ‘joke’.  _ “Yeah, she was pretty scared at first. I wonder why the interviewer cares so much about that.”

 

“It makes a better story I guess.” speculated Uncle Ben. “Anyways, since this story is in the news you can tell Captain Stacey about reading it and ask him if he knows anymore details. You should be able to find out about the criminal’s fate that way.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll do that. I had better get back to my homework now.” Peter went back to the table but it took him a while to get started on his homework again. He was in the news as Spider-Man! This was great! It was too bad he couldn’t tell his friends but he still didn’t want to take a chance on them considering him a freak. After all look at how that woman had reacted. She was terrified even though he was helping her. He vowed to himself that he would keep his identity secret no matter how big of a hero he became.

 

Peter climbed into his spidey suit and stuffed his clothes into a small backpack. If he was going to Gwen’s he was going to have some fun on the way. Soon he was swinging high above the streets again. He had stopped on a building close to Gwen’s house to figure out the best place to put his clothes back on when he noticed a little boy dart away from his mother’s hand out onto the road. Quickly, Spider-Man caught the child with a line of web and carefully lifted him back to his mother. While she was making sure that her son was ok, Spidey slipped away into an alley to change back into his clothes.

 

Still pumped from the rescue, Peter rang Gwen’s doorbell. “Hi Peter, come on in.” Gwen’s mother greeted him. “Gwen should be ready soon.”

 

“Hello, Mrs. Stacy. Is Captain Stacy in? I want to ask him about something.”

 

“He’s in the living room. I'll go let Gwen know you're here.”

 

Peter entered the living room and greeted the Captain. “Hello Peter, what did you want to ask me about.” asked Stacy.

 

“I saw the story about a Spider-Man who stopped a mugger. I was wondering if you could tell me more about it?”

 

“Oh, yes. That was something else. When the patrollers showed up at the scene they just caught a glimpse of someone in red and blue go flying off into the night. The perp was stuck to the ground in some sort of web. It was quite the job getting him unstuck and into the patrol car. They said it was the weirdest thing they had ever seen.”

 

“Cool. Was the mugger injured? The story said that Spider-Man threw him into a wall hard enough to knock him out. That must have done some damage.”

 

“He had a real bump on his head and a lot of bruises. I don’t think there was anything serious. Why?”

 

“I was just wondering how strong this Spider-Man was. I wonder if he could have thrown the guy hard enough to do real damage.”

 

“Even if he was strong enough, it’s a good thing he didn’t do any real damage. Even criminals have their rights and no more force should be used in an arrest than necessary.”

 

“I’ve heard that lecture before, Dad. What brought it on this time.” said Gwen from the doorway.

 

“I was just asking your Dad about the incident last night with that Spider-Man. I wondered how much damage he could do to someone, throwing them against the wall that way.” Peter replied.

 

“I saw that story,” said Gwen. “Spider-Man is creepy.”

 

“What’s so creepy about him, he’s cool.” protested Peter as he reflected that it was a good thing he hadn’t told Gwen that he was Spider-Man.

 

“I don’t know,” admitted Gwen. “Maybe it’s just the spider thing but I think he’s creepy.”

 

The two teens left the house together on their way to their favorite deli for lunch. It was just around the corner from Gwen’s house so the walk didn’t take long. After they got their food and found a table, Peter noticed a mother and her son sitting near them. It was the little boy he had saved just before he got to Gwen’s house. They had ice cream and the boy was chattering on a mile a minute to his mother in between bites.

 

Peter nudged Gwen and indicated the boy. “He’s really cute isn’t he.”

 

“He is cute but since when were you interested in kids, Peter?”

 

“I’ve always liked little kids, they like me too. Here I’ll prove it.”

 

Going over to the other table, Peter crouched down so that he was level with the small child. “Hello, my name is Peter. What is your name?” Then glancing up at the mother he said, “I hope you don’t mind but I’m trying to impress my girlfriend there.”

 

Smiling the mother nodded to her son and he answered. “Tommy”

 

“Hi Tommy, has anything interesting happened to you recently?”

 

“I flew! Right through the air! I was a bad boy and ran away from Mommy and I flew back to her! Mommy says a car almost hit me and I must be very thankful to the person that saved me. But she doesn’t know who it was.” Tommy excitedly told Peter.

 

Peter pretended to notice the remains of the web rope on Tommy’s back for the first time. “What’s this on your back Tommy?”

 

“That’s what was used to pull Tommy back from the road.” explained his Mother. “I don’t know what it is or who threw it but I am so glad that Tommy is safe.”

 

“I think I know what it is.” exclaimed Peter. He pulled out his phone and showed them the picture of Spider-Man. “This is Spider-Man. He stopped a mugger last night using a substance that sounds a lot like the same stuff.”

 

“Well then, thank you to Spider-Man. Wherever he is.” said Tommy’s mother gratefully.

 

“Thank you Spidey-man.” repeated Tommy. Then he started chanting quietly to himself. “Spidey-man, Spidey-man. Thank you Spidey-man.”

 

Smiling Peter walked back to Gwen and sat down.  _ Spidey  _ He liked that. “Well you certainly made a hit with him,” Said Gwen. “What did you show him?”

 

“I showed him that picture of Spider-Man. Tommy definitely doesn’t think he is creepy.”

 

“OK,” laughed Gwen. “You’ve made your point. You have a way with kids but Spider-Man is still creepy.” Talking and laughing the pair finished their lunch and hung out at a museum for the rest of the afternoon. When they got back to Gwen’s, Peter was invited to stay for supper, so it was evening by the time he headed for home. Once he got back to the apartment he just dropped his clothes off in his room and let his Aunt and Uncle know he was heading out again. Spider-Man was going on patrol.

 

After swinging through the city for a short time, Spider-Man came across another mugging. This time he webbed the weapon from the guys hand and then wrapped him in web from his perch on the wall above the alley. Spidey then dropped down into the alley to make sure that the victim was alright and to ensure that the police were called. It didn’t take long before the police were on the scene and Spider-Man was off again.

 

Spider-Man next caught a cat burglar breaking into an apartment window.    
Spidey webbed the burglar and then lowered her on a line to hang just above the sidewalk below. This time he called 911 himself and then left the thief to be found by the police when they arrived. After swinging through the city for a while, on the lookout for more crime, Spider-Man started having a strong feeling there was danger nearby. He followed the feeling and came to a dark alley where three men had a young woman cornered.

 

Spider-Man grabbed the first man with length of web and pulled him down the alley, away from the others. Then he leapt past the man to confront the other two. He dodged the second man’s attack while throwing web around the feet of the third man, causing him to fall. He then spun back to the second man and tossed web around him, wrapping him securely. He was just securing the third man more securely when he sensed danger again. He twisted to the side and felt something go past his head at high speed.  _ That was a bullet.  _ He realized.  _ I guess I can dodge bullets after all. I’m not telling Aunt May about this though.  _ Dodging another bullet, Peter pulled the gun out of the man’s hand with his web. He then crushed the barrel in his fist before dropping it on the ground and webbing the man, who had started to run away.

 

“Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” Peter asked the young woman shakily. She was blond and for a minute she had looked just like Gwen. The woman nodded and then crying she ran over to Spider-Man and threw herself into his arms, thanking him over and over again. Peter awkwardly patted her back while he carefully fished out his phone and called the police.

 

It seemed like a long wait to Peter but it wasn’t very long before the police arrived. The first officer on the scene jumped out of his patrol car and drew his gun. “Release the woman and put your hands up.” He commanded.

 

Spider-Man slowly raised his hands over his head.

 

“Captain Stacy.” The man called over his shoulder. “We’ve found the Spider-Man.” Then he looked back, only to find the alley empty. Peter clung to the wall above the police officer as Captain Stacy strode up.

 

“You idiot! Why did you pull your gun on him? I wanted to talk to him not scare him away.” Stacy scolded the luckless officer. “Let this be a lesson to you. Never pull a gun on a superhero. It only makes you look stupid. Spider-Man is making our lives easier and I don’t want to stop him. I would just like to more about him.”

 

Peter swung away towards home. He wasn’t going to talk to Captain Stacy as Spider-Man. The man knew him too well and would probably be able to figure out who he really was. Captain Stacy might appreciate what Spider-Man was doing for him but he wasn’t likely to want his daughter to be dating him. And Gwen thought Spider-Man was creepy. She would definitely break up with him if she knew the truth.


	2. Is is really worth it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter doesn't know if he should continue to be a hero.

When Peter emerged from his room Sunday morning he was confronted by his Aunt. “All right take it off.”

 

“What?” Peter asked, confused.

 

“You’re spider suit. You’ve been wearing it non-stop since I gave it to you and it needs to be washed. Spider-Man can take the morning off.”

 

When Peter came out of his room again, he handed Aunt May his suit and asked. “Is Uncle Ben still sleeping.”

 

“Yes, he needs to catch up on sleep this weekend if he is going to be fit for work Monday night. He lost a lot of sleep last week in his preoccupation with figuring out your new powers. He keeps forgetting he isn’t as young as he used to be.”

 

Peter helped his Aunt clean the apartment and then he decided to check his Instagram feed. Everyone was talking about Spider-Man, New York’s newest superhero. He was having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that he was a superhero. He could only hope that the people who knew him would feel the same way and no one would connect him to Spider-Man.

 

Shortly before lunch Norman Osborne,owner of Oscorp and Harry’s father, called. “Hello, Peter. I would like you to come around and visit Harry. Maybe you can talk some sense into him. My car should be around at your place in a few minutes. I’ll see you soon.”

 

Peter hung up the phone. That was weird, even for Mr. Osborne. I guess being a busy and powerful business owner made you sometimes forget that not everybody was your employee. Oh well, he did want to visit Harry, it had been a long time since they had hung out outside of school.

 

When Peter arrived at the Osborne’s condominium, Norman Osborne answered the door. “Peter, come in. I heard about the incident at my labs with the spider. No ill effects I hope? I hope this won't discourage you from accepting an internship with us this summer. Young scientists like you are the future of Oscorp.” Mr. Osborne slung his arm across Peter’s shoulder and drew him into the room.

 

“Ow.” Peter felt a sharp pain on the side of his neck.

 

“I’m sorry Peter. My watch clasp needs repairing. It must have scratched you.” Norman removed his watch as he spoke and tucked it into his pocket. “Anyways, Harry is just getting up. I left my credit card on the table. Order anything you want for lunch. I must be going.”

 

Mr. Osborne left and Peter went into Harry’s bedroom. Harry’s father had been rather optimistic when he said Harry was getting up. All that Peter could see of his friend was a lump under the blankets. “Harry? It’s Peter. I’m going to order lunch soon so you might want to get up.”

 

From under the blankets Harry’s voice emerged. “Go away. I don’t need a nursemaid. I just need to sleep. And turn off that light it’s going straight through my head.”

 

Peter thought of Harry’s posts from the night before, talking about go to a party. “Harry how much did you have to drink yesterday?”

 

“I don’t know. It’s all kind of blurry now. It was a great party though.”

 

“You have a hangover. You don’t need sleep. You need some water and a painkiller.” Peter turned out the light and brought Harry a large glass of water and a couple of tablets. Harry agreed to drink it once it became clear that his friend wasn’t going to leave him alone until he did. While Harry was sitting up in bed drinking the water, Peter called in their lunch order. He felt guilty about it but he made it a large one. Mr. Osborne could afford it and Peter was hungry.

 

By the time the food arrived Harry was feeling human again and had gotten up and got dressed. They started in on the food. Harry picking away at it, obviously still not feeling quite well and Peter eating rapidly, enjoying the opportunity to finally feel full. Harry stopped eating and stared at Peter. “Where are you putting it all, Pete? I’ve never seen you eat so much. I’ve never seen anyone eat so much.”

 

Peter choked. He had been so focused on his hunger he had forgotten he had a secret to keep. “Uh, I think I must be going through a growth spurt. And it’s been a long time since breakfast this morning,” he got out. To his relief Harry lost interest in how much Peter was eating and returned to his own grievances. 

 

“I don’t know why Dad insisted you come here. I’m capable of looking after myself. I have to do it all the time when he’s away on business trips after all.”

 

“I think he’s just worried about you.” Peter offered. “You can’t expect him to approve of you drinking. You are still underage after all. If I went to a party with drinking I think Uncle Ben would kill me. That is if Aunt May didn’t get me first.”

 

“Dad doesn’t approve of anything I do. Why should I worry about what he wants. He’s never around anyways.”

 

“He’s a pretty busy man, Harry. Anyways, I was glad when he phoned me. I haven’t seen you outside of school in ages. Why don’t we play some video games?”

 

After Peter had cleaned up the mess from lunch he and Harry spent the afternoon playing video games together. Peter being very careful not to do too well in the games. He had already discovered that his faster reflexes had made him better at most video games. Mr. Osborne phoned late afternoon to tell Harry that he wouldn’t be home that night and he would see him after school on Monday. He would send the car around to take Peter home shortly.

 

Peter saw the look on Harry’s face when he got off of the phone and suggested Harry come spend the night at his place. “Aunt May and Uncle Ben won’t mind. You can have my room and I will sleep in my lab. Just let me call Aunt May and let her know you’re coming.” Before Harry could object Peter was on his phone to his Aunt.

 

“It’s all set.” said Peter as he got off of his phone. “Aunt May and Uncle Ben are expecting you. You had better get some clothes together and grab your stuff for school before your Dad’s car gets here.” Harry brightened up and got his stuff together. Spending the night at Pete’s would be a lot better than staying alone and he really wasn’t in the mood to see his other friends after last night. The hangover headache was too recent to forget about.

 

That night when Peter went into his room to get his night things, Harry asked him to stay and talk for awhile. “Thank you for everything today. It’s been a long time since I was able to just hang out and have fun like that.” Harry started.

 

Peter opened his mouth but Harry cut him off. “Just let me finish. I’m only going to say this once and I probably will be sorry that I told you later but I need to get this off of my chest. I know that my new friends aren’t good for me to hang around. I know that they probably only hang out with me because of my money. I also don’t care. My father’s never around and when he is around I’m never good enough. When I go out drinking and stuff I don’t care about that stuff and it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Harry looked down. “Anyways, that’s why I enjoyed today so much. You helped me to forget for awhile without the hangover afterwards and you and your Aunt and Uncle made me feel more welcome than I’ve felt in a long time.”

 

Peter stood there with his mouth open. He didn’t know what to say. Harry looked up at him. “If you ever tell anyone what I told you I will never forgive you.” He threatened. Peter promised not to tell. What else could he do.

 

When Peter went to bed in his lab he found his spider suit carefully folded under his pillow. He smiled as he tucked it out of sight under the bed and fell asleep.

 

At breakfast Monday morning Peter and Harry did their best to appear normal in front of Aunt May and Uncle Ben but neither of them could forget the conversation the night before. The walk to school was a quiet one but when they were almost there, Peter spoke up.

“Harry, I just want to let you know that whatever happens I will always be there for you. Just give me a call anytime.”

 

“Thanks, Pete. That means a lot but I don’t think there’s anything you can do for me now. I’ll see you around.”

 

Harry went off to speak to a couple of boys from his new group of friends and then they headed off together. Peter had a feeling they weren’t headed to class.

  
Worrying about Harry and wishing that there was something more he could do for his friend Peter entered the school building. Gwen and MJ were already at their lockers talking about Spider-Man. Gwen was filling MJ in all the extra details from Saturday night that her father had told her. When she saw Peter coming she finished up by saying, “He might be a superhero but I think he is really creepy. Peter thinks he’s cool though. Right Peter?”

 

Coming out of his introspection Peter replied. “Who, Spider-Man? Of course he’s cool. He’s a superhero isn’t he?”

 

MJ commented. “He’s a really new one though. I never heard of him before this weekend.”

 

“Maybe he’s new to the city” Peter suggested.

 

The bell rang and the threesome headed to class. When they got there Flash was there holding court on the subject of the new superhero. Flash evidently thought that Spider-Man was the coolest thing ever. He seemed to be trying to start a Spider-Man fan club among his friends. Peter listened to Flash go on and on about how strong Spider-Man was, in shock. Who would have thought that Flash would be one of his biggest fans. It was surreal. Of course Flash didn’t know that Spider-Man was the nerdy Peter Parker. He would probably be a lot less impressed if he knew the truth.

 

Spider-Man was the topic of choice for the rest of the day. As the discussions went on Peter started to feel like a spotlight was on him. It felt as if everyone should be able to tell that he was hiding something anytime the looked at him. It didn’t help that a number of the students saw Spider-Man as scary or creepy, like Gwen.  _ If anyone figures out that I am Spider-Man they will all feel that way _ , Peter thought. He was glad when the day was over.

 

“Hi Aunt May. Is Uncle Ben up?” asked Peter when he got home.

 

“Your Uncle took a double shift at work. He’ll be home soon but he’ll need to go right to bed when he does.” said Aunt May. “I’m trying to see if I can get enough students for another Yoga class but if I can’t Ben will need to work extra shifts occasionally.”

 

Peter felt guilty. He knew that he was costing his Aunt and Uncle a lot more since becoming Spider-Man. He was trying not to eat too much but he was always hungry. He even had a couple of times where he ended up feeling faint because it had been too long since he had eaten. He had meant to figure out a way to make some money but he had been too caught up in making his web-slingers and being a superhero. 

 

Then Peter remembered something someone had said at school. The Daily Bugle was looking for pictures of Spider-Man. Peter went to his room and dug out his camera. The camera had been a birthday present from Harry so it was a good one. Peter had always enjoyed photography and he knew he could get some good pictures for the Daily Bugle. He quickly changed into his spider suit and went out the window with his camera.

 

Later that afternoon Peter left the Daily Bugle offices feeling very pleased with himself. J. Jonah Jameson had liked his pictures and paid well for them and was interested in acquiring more. He bought supplies to make more web fluid and headed home. He couldn't wait to give Aunt May the money he had earned.

 

Over the next few weeks Peter fell into a routine. Breakfast with Aunt May and Uncle Ben and then off to school. After school he went home to rush through his homework and get some work done in his lab before supper. Then he went out on patrol as Spider-Man until he needed to go home to get some sleep. Making sure to get some pictures for the Daily Bugle at some point in the evening. Then on Saturday he hung out with Gwen and sometimes MJ and of course went out on patrol. On Sunday he spent time with his Aunt and Uncle and caught up on his homework. Aunt May always insisted he take at least one day off from being Spider-Man each week.

 

Then came his first fire. It was in the middle of the school day when Peter started to feel a strong sense of danger. Somewhere nearby there were a lot of people in danger. Then he heard the sirens. Saying something about needing to use the washroom, Peter bolted from the room. He changed into his suit in the washroom and went out the window as Spider-Man, stopping only to ditch his backpack and clothes near the school to retrieve later. Following the sirens, he soon reached the fire.

 

It was a big fire in a high-rise apartment building and as Spider-Man took in the situation he quickly realized that the firefighters could not reach the people on the top floors. He started rescuing the people he could see at the windows, carrying them down to the firefighters below. When he brought down the second person, a firefighter came over to him. “Spider-Man, if you’re going in there you need this.” The firefighter quickly made Peter put on a breathing apparatus and handed him a light before he swung back up to the next window.

 

Spider-Man staggered as he landed. He didn’t know how long he had been going back and forth between the burning building and the ground and he had lost track of how many people he had rescued. He was about to swing back up to the top of the building again when a hand on his arm stopped him. “The fire is out, you can stop now. Thank you for your help, Spider-Man.”

 

Peter blinked blearily at the man and slowly absorbed what he was being told. He wearily removed the breathing apparatus and handed it and the light back, glad that the ordeal was over. Spider-Man swung away to retrieve his camera from where he set it up while studying the fire. Then he went back to the school to retrieve his backpack and headed home. He could not remember ever being so tired.

 

“You’re home early”, commented Aunt May as Peter entered the apartment. Surprised, Peter looked at the clock and realized that the school day had just ended. Collapsing into the nearest chair he told his Aunt May what had happened. “I’m afraid my suit will need some repairs, Aunt May.” he said apologetically.

 

“It’s a good thing I made a second one for you then. Are you alright, Peter?”

 

“I’m fine. A few burns and bruises but they are healing already. I’m just really tired. Can you call the school and give them some excuse for me taking off in the middle of the day? The only thing I told my teacher was that I needed to use the washroom before I ran from the room.”

 

“Of course, I can tell them that you were sick and I came to get you. I will be very apologetic about not stopping at the office to sign you out properly. Now you had better get cleaned up a little and get to bed. I will wake you up in time for supper.”

 

Before going to sleep. Peter uploaded the pictures of the fire to his computer and sent them to the Daily Bugle.  _ J.J. should be happy with those, _ he thought as he dropped off to sleep.

 

Peter slumped at his desk in class the next day. He was still tired and kind of sore.  _ Maybe I shouldn’t have gone on patrol last night after all. But if I hadn’t more people would have been hurt or killed. I guess I can live with being a little sore and tired. At least everyone believes me that I was sick yesterday and am still feeling a little under the weather. _

 

Behind Peter, Flash frowned at him. Something was going on with Parker. He didn’t really look sick, he looked like he had been hurt. Flash had already noticed the makeup concealing burns that hadn't completely healed yet and he recognized the way Peter moved. It reminded him of the days he came to school with carefully concealed bruises after a run in with his father the night before. But there shouldn't be anyone beating Peter up. Flash had made it very clear that Parker was his personal target and he didn't tolerate anyone else pushing the wimp around. And he knew Peter’s Uncle Ben would never hurt him. Not like Flash’s father. Flash decided that he would keep an eye on Peter and see if he could figure out what the other boy was up to.

 

Just then the boy sitting beside Flash got his attention. “Did you hear the latest about Spider-Man?” He asked, knowing Flash would be interested.

 

“Yes,” Flash replied enthusiastically, “He saved a bunch of people from a fire yesterday afternoon. There are a bunch of pictures online.”

 

“Well the Daily Bugle is saying that he set the fire so that he could play the hero.”

 

Flash quickly pulled out his phone and looked up the story. As president of the Spider-Man fan club he needed to keep up to date with all of the news. His face darkened as he read the Daily Bugle, “Spider-Man would never do something like that. He  **is** a hero and he would never do anything to hurt people.” Flash started to think. He needed to do something about this. Spider-Man’s reputation needed defending. He would have to get the Spidey fan club on it.

 

Peter overheard the other two boys talking and also looked up the story in the Daily Bugle. He scowled as he read the article. J. Jameson was making Spider-Man out to be some kind of criminal and using Peter’s pictures to do it. Even with his powers he had been risking his life when he entered the building to rescue those people and this was the thanks he got. A sudden feeling of discouragement washed over him. He was so tired and sore and he just wanted to go home and sleep.

 

The day finally over, Peter was headed towards home when Flash caught up with him. “Hey Pu..I mean Peter, you’re a Spider-Man fan aren’t you?”

 

Peter turned to him, “I guess. Why?”

 

“I need your help. I want to make a Spider-Man fan site to show the world what a hero he is. You are good with computer stuff right? You can help me with that. We could also use your pictures. It would be better than what the Daily Bugle does with them.” Flash said eagerly.

 

“Why would I help you? You’ve bullied me for years and that now you want something from me you just expect me to forget all that?”

 

“It’s not for me! It’s for Spider-Man!”

 

“Why do you care about Spider-Man? Why do you like him so much?”

 

Flash hesitated. He had the feeling that Peter wouldn’t accept an easy answer. He slowly spoke. “He’s really strong and he uses that strength to help others instead of pushing them around. You know, the strong get what they want and everyone else has to do what they say. That’s the way the world works. But Spider-Man doesn’t work like that.” Flash ran down he didn’t know how to say it any other way and he was afraid it wasn’t going to be enough.

 

Peter was taken aback. He had never heard Flash talk like that before. Maybe he should help him out.  _ What would be the point. Flash couldn’t be serious about this. It will just end up with Flash hurting me again. He can’t be trusted. _ Peter made his decision. “Sorry Flash, not interested.” He walked away and disappeared around the corner.

 

As soon as Peter Parker was out of sight of Flash, he found a place to strip off the clothes that he was wearing over his spider suit. He needed to get away and think.

 

Spider-Man swung above the streets, not patrolling, just traveling as fast as he could through the city. He was trying to out distance his anger and hurt over the Daily Bugle article and his confusion about Flash. If he could just recapture the joy of that first trip.

 

Without realizing he had done so Peter ended up in Gwen’s neighbourhood again. Sitting on a rooftop he heard a familiar voice through the sounds of the city. “Spidey-man, I see Spidey-man, Mom!” It was Tommy and his mother looking up at him. Spidey dropped down to the street.

 

“Hello Tommy.” He crouched down to greet the boy.

 

“You know my name! Mommy, Spidey-man knows me!” Tommy was practically hopping up and down in his excitement.

 

_ Oops,  _ thought Peter  _ I had better think fast. Oh well, no help for it.  _ “Of course I know you. My friend Peter told me your name and I remember rescuing you.”

 

“Thank you, Spidey-man,” said Tommy and he hugged Peter. As he felt Tommy’s small arms wrap around his neck Peter’s eyes filled with tears. He barely knew the boy but he was unspeakably glad that he had been there to save Tommy. It seemed unthinkable that the small boy could have been crushed to death under the wheels of a car.

 

When Spider-Man stood up from the hug Tommy’s mother took his hand. “Thank you Spider-Man. I.. I can't thank you enough.” Her voice broke, “If you hadn't been there…”, she trailed off, unable to go on.

 

“I'm just glad that I was there and able to help. Tommy is a really special boy. Maybe I could visit him sometimes? When I need a reminder of why I do this every day.”

 

“Of course,” replied Tommy’s mother with understanding, “We would be glad to see you. I've seen the Daily Bugle article. It must be hard to read such lies about yourself but we need you out there. You have helped so many people Spider-Man. Thank you again.”

 

Peter recorded the address she gave him on his phone and swung away. He would talk to Flash tomorrow and help him with his fan site and he would be out there patrolling again that night. It was his responsibility to make the city safer for Tommy and all the other citizens of New York. He had the power to make a difference.


	3. Flash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash has suspicions about Peter.

Peter stopped and took a deep breath before stepping into the school. He would much rather face down a crook with a gun than talk to Flash but it had to be done.  _ I just hope he gives me a chance to talk before shoving me in my locker again _ , worried Peter.  _ He's probably pretty pissed  with me right now _ .

 

Flash frowned as he watched Peter approach him. What did the wimp want? Parker never talked to him anymore unless Flash provoked him and he had made it clear that he wasn't interested in having anything to do with Flash the day before. Flash wasn't sure why he didn't just shove the wimp in his locker and be done with it but he waited to hear what Peter had to say.

 

Peter saw the frown on Flash’s face and swallowed. “Uh Flash, I was thinking about what you said last night and… I am willing to help you with your Spider-Man fan site.”

 

Flash’s face cleared and he grinned in delight, “You will! Great! Do you think we have time to get something done before class starts if we get started right away.”

 

“Sure,” Peter responded. “Let's head to the computer lab.”

 

As the two boys walked, Flash showed Peter the responses he had gathered from his post the night before. Flash had sent out both a tweet and an Instagram post asking for people to share their stories of how Spider-Man had helped them. Peter flushed as he read through them. He knew he had helped a lot of people but it was overwhelming to see their stories all together like that. “You have some great material there Flash.” Peter managed to get out. “I’ve got some good pictures to use, too. This will be an amazing site.”

 

Flash and Peter worked together until they had to go to class and got the bare bones laid out. Then during lunch they met up again and uploaded Flash’s stories and Peter’s pictures. The finishing touch was a forum where Spider-Man’s fans could discuss him and share their stories. Peter felt very strange putting it all together and even stranger working with Flash. Sure they had been friends back in kindergarten but that was a long time and a lot of bullying ago. Could it be that Flash was really changing because of Spider-Man? Peter found it hard to believe but there didn't seem to be any other explanation.

 

Peter stopped at a corner store on the way home from school to buy more snacks. He was between the shelves deciding what he wanted when his spider sense alerted him to danger. A man with a gun had just come into the store and was demanding that the clerk empty the cash register. Peter hesitated, he wasn’t wearing his web-slingers so he couldn't get the man's gun away from him easily. He also had to be careful not to reveal his identity as Spider-Man. Did he really want to intervene and risk that secret? He decided that it wouldn't be right to not act when he knew he could stop the man.

 

Peter waited until the thief was heading back towards the door before he moved. He tackled the man from behind, bringing him down in the middle of the store. Luckily, the gun didn't go off and Peter quickly disarmed him. Once he had subdued the man he looked up and felt his heart stop. His Uncle Ben had just come in the door and was taking in the situation. Peter realized that if he hadn't stopped the robber the man would have run into his Uncle as he left the store. Uncle Ben could have been killed and Peter had almost let that happen.

 

After that afternoon, Peter spent more and more time as Spider-Man. He was having trouble sleeping so he started going out during the night as well as in the evening. It was better than laying in bed picturing his Uncle Ben laying shot and dying in the street. It hadn't actually happened but it was too close for him to get the thought out of his head. He took to following his uncle as he made his way to work and then patrolling for a while before going home to fall into an exhausted sleep for the rest of night. He also started to travel as Spider-Man whenever possible in case he came across a situation where he was needed.

 

One night, after seeing Uncle Ben arrive safely at work, Peter came across Harry sprawled unconscious in an alley. Peter quickly checked him for injury only to realize that Harry was passed out drunk. Feeling guilty because he hadn't really thought about his friend in days, Spider-Man carried him home. Fishing Harry’s keys out of his pocket, Peter carefully let himself into the Osborne condo. It was quiet. Spidey realized in relief that Norman wasn't home. As he was settling Harry in bed, the other boy stirred. “Where am I?” He slurred.

 

“Hush, you're at home in bed. Now get some sleep you will feel awful in the morning.” whispered Peter.

 

“Good old Pete. Can always count on you.” Harry dropped off into a sodden slumber and Peter quietly left him to his sleep.

 

*********************

 

Norman Osborne strode into his hidden laboratory. “Have you got anything for me yet? It’s been weeks!” He snapped at the man working there.

 

“As I already reported to you. The blood sample you brought me does show abnormalities in its DNA. The man seems to have spider DNA fused with his own which could cause the abilities that Spider-Man displays. I cannot however, confirm that the person you got this blood from and Spider-Man are the same person without a sample of Spider-Man’s DNA to match.” Doctor Octavius replied, continuing to work as he spoke. “I have been examining Spider-Man’s pattern of movement and have a plan to obtain the sample I need.” Dr. Octavius worked rapidly, utilizing four mechanical arms that appeared to sprout from his back.

 

“I am running out of patience. You had better give me the results I want soon or else.” Norman Osborne threatened as he left the lab.

 

*********************

 

The morning after he found Harry passed out, Peter was running late for school. He had stopped a gang fight that morning and hadn't manage to dodge fast enough when one of them had come at him with a knife. There had been too many threats for him to avoid them all. He patched himself up quickly with the first aid kit that Aunt May had given him and managed to get to school just before the bell rang.

 

“Hey Pete, running late again.” a cheerful voice greeted him as he entered the school.

 

“Harry?” Peter was astonished to see his friend looking so cheerful after the condition he had been in the night before. Peter was surprised to see Harry at school at all.

 

“Thanks for the assist last night, Pete. I owe you one. I don't remember very much but I probably wouldn't have made it home without your help.”

 

“No problem, Harry. I'm just glad I found you before anything happened to you. You could have been killed. Next time call me before you pass out on the way home.” Peter said. Then curiosity got the better of him. “You seem in really good shape for the morning after last night.”

 

Harry grinned. “I found the perfect solution to get me going in the morning. Lots of water and a little of this stuff.” Harry pulled a small bag of white powder out of his pocket and then quickly stuffed it back in.

 

Before Peter could recover from the shock of realizing that Harry was using cocaine Flash came up. “Parker, wait until you see the story that was just submitted this morning!”

 

Harry snarled at Flash. “What do you want? Can't you just leave Pete alone.”

 

Flash clenched his fists. “I was talking to Parker, not you.”

 

Harry stepped forward threateningly. “Well, I'm talking to you and I told you to leave us alone.”

 

Peter stepped between the two boys and held them apart. “Quit it, both of you! Harry, Flash isn't bothering me. We've been working on something together and he's cool now. It's ok. Flash you don't have time to get into a fight now. Right now we all need to get to class.”

 

Harry frowned but he stepped back. “If you say so Pete, but watch your back. I'll see you around.” Harry left and Peter and Flash headed to their first class.

 

Flash stared at Peter Parker’s back. He thought about the feeling of the other boys hand holding him back, his arm like iron. Flash hadn't been able to push it aside to get at Harry, even though he had tried. How could the wimp be so strong? Now that Flash was looking at Peter he realized just how awful he looked. He had deep circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in weeks. As Flash watched him, Peter shifted in his chair as if he was in pain, his hand going to his side but not touching it.

 

When Peter asked permission to use the washroom Flash decided to follow him. He needed to figure out what was going on. Flash quietly opened the washroom door and peeked in. Peter had his shirt pulled up and was removing a dressing from his side. He examined the wound he had uncovered before quickly applying a new dressing a pulling his shirt back down.

 

Flash ducked around the corner before Peter could catch him at the door. His mind flashed back to the story that had been submitted to the forum just before school started. It was an eyewitness account of Spider-Man stopping a gang fight early that morning. In the course of subduing the gang members Spider-Man had been knifed in the side. Now here was Peter, who had shown himself to be stronger than he should be, with what sure looked like a knife cut on his side. Flash couldn't believe it but it was the only explanation. Peter Parker was Spider-Man! That's why he kept coming to school injured and why he was so tired all the time! Flash was beside himself with excitement, he was friends with Spider-Man! This was great!

 

********************

 

Peter looked around carefully for Gwen and MJ before hurrying to catch up with Harry. The two girls kept nagging him about needing to take better care if himself and he got enough of that from Aunt May. He didn't need it from his friends. “Harry wait up, we need to talk.”

 

“Sure Pete, what's up.” responded Harry.

 

“Harry, I don't think you should be using cocaine. That stuff is dangerous, not to mention illegal. You could get in a lot of trouble.”

 

“I'm being careful,” Harry protested. “I know what I'm doing. Look Pete, I feel like I could do anything now. I'm full of energy, I can concentrate on my school work better than I ever could before. I finally have a chance to make my Dad proud. I won't let that be taken away from me.”

 

“But what about this morning? You almost got into a fight with Flash in the school. You're Dad won't be impressed by you getting suspended.”

 

“That bully would have deserved it. I don't know why you're letting him hang around you after the way he's treated you all these years. Anyway I didn't get into a fight and I don't need you to mother me.”

 

Peter sighed. “You're right. Just remember if you get in over your head you can always count on me to help you.”

 

“I know Pete. I can always count on you. Right now I could use some help getting caught up in the stuff I missed over the last few weeks.” The two friends spent their lunch period going over some of the material that Harry had missed.

 

After his last class, Flash hurriedly got his stuff together and followed Peter out of the school. He had been waiting for this chance all day. He was right behind Peter when the other boy ducked into an alley and then emerged as Spider-Man. Flash called to him, “Hey Peter wait up!” Spidey froze and Flash realized his mistake. “I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that, secret identity and all. Flash you're an idiot!” the boy apologized as he reached the costumed superhero.

 

“How did you figure it out? Never mind that. You'd better come with me, we can talk about it at my place. I hope you don't mind heights.” Spider-Man hoisted Flash onto his back and swung home.

 

Flash whooped in Spidey’s ear. “This is great!” Peter grinned. Flash’s delight brought back all the joy of his own first time. “It never gets old,” he agreed.

 

The two boys reached the apartment building much too fast for Flash. He dropped off of Peter’s shoulders onto the fire escape with a sigh. “Maybe we could do that again sometime,” He asked hopefully.

 

“Maybe,” replied Peter, as he led the way to his apartment. After checking to make sure there was no one there to see Spider-Man enter the Parker’s apartment the two boys went inside. “Aunt May, Uncle Ben, we have a problem.”

 

“What is it Peter,” said Uncle Ben as he entered the room. He stopped short when he saw Flash standing beside a fully costumed Spider-Man. “I see. We do have a problem.”

 

“Why don't we all go into the kitchen and have some refreshments,” suggested Aunt May. “We can talk just as easily in there and food always helps.”

 

Once they were all seated at the table and Peter had removed his mask Uncle Ben spoke. “So, Flash, you obviously found out that Peter here was Spider-Man. Do you mind telling us how?”

 

“Well Sir, I'm a huge Spider-Man fan and I run a website and forum that collects stories about him. This morning a story was submitted about Spider-Man being hurt stopping a gang fight.” Flash started when he was interrupted by Aunt May.

 

“Peter, you're hurt? Let me see. You should have come home rather than continuing to school if you got injured.” she scolded the boy as she lifted his shirt to get a look at the cut.

 

“It wasn't a big deal, Aunt May. I bandaged it up with my first aid kit and as you can see it's healed already. You know I don't like missing school.”

 

Flash was fascinated. The cut was healed. There was no way Peter could have healed that fast normally. Just wait until the others heard that it was confirmed that Spider-Man had enhanced healing! When Aunt May was done making a fuss over her nephew, Uncle Ben asked Flash to continue.

 

“I had noticed that Peter didn't seem to be feeling well that morning. In fact I had noticed that he often came to school with carefully concealed injuries. I had also discovered that he was a lot stronger than he looked that morning. I wanted to know what was going on.” Flash explained how he had followed Peter to the washroom and caught him tending to his wound. “I won't tell anyone else, I promise! I just want to be a part of what Spider-Man is doing!” Flash concluded.

 

“You can't come with me on patrol or anything, Flash.” warmed Peter. “As you've noticed I still get hurt even with super strength and agility. I don't want to be responsible for anything happening to you.”

 

“I know but there must be something I can do to help you. I can help cover for you at least. I also know first aid so I can help patch you up when you need it.”

 

Aunt May smiled at the boy, “You can definitely help Peter out, Flash. I know I can count on you to keep an eye on him for me when he gets to school. Since Peter obviously can't be counted on to be sensible and come home when he gets hurt.” She frowned at her nephew.

 

“We will trust you to keep Peter’s secret, Flash but do you think anyone else will figure it out the way you did?” asked Uncle Ben.

 

“I don't think so. The other big Spider-Man fans at school don't really spend time around Peter. I never really understood why he avoided them before but I guess I do now. Peter’s friends don't seem to be interested in Spider-Man so even if they notice something is going on with him they aren't likely to make the connection. Besides I don't think any of them have my reasons to know what it looks like when you have injuries to hide.” Flash stopped. He had said more than he meant to.

 

“What reason do you have to know about hiding injuries.” asked Uncle Ben gently. Flash looked down at his hands silently.

 

“You don’t have to tell us, Flash but we would like to help you and we can't if we don't know what is going on. Has someone been hurting you or or someone close to you?” continued Uncle Ben.

 

Flash thought about all those years of watching his Mother carefully applying makeup to cover up her bruises. Her repeated warnings not to tell anyone about them. Even after Flash became the victim of his father's rages, when he tried to protect his Mother, she still begged him to keep quiet about what was happening. But she wasn't around anymore and it would be a relief to finally tell someone. Even if they despised him when he was done. He took a deep breath and began.

 

Flash’s story unfolded haltingly, he wasn't very eloquent and it was hard to break the silence of so many years. But he told them about his father. About the drunken rages, about his early memories of cowering in his room when his father would beat his mother. He told them about how he tried to stand up to his father as he got older and how he was beaten as well. “Then mom left and it was just me and dad. I try to stay out of his way mostly but it doesn't always work. It's no big deal. I'm tough, I can handle it. But it does mean that I know when someone is trying to conceal injuries because I've been there enough myself.” Flash grew quiet.

 

He didn't expect the Parkers to be willing to help him. After all look at how he had treated Peter. They used to be friends but Flash had spent most of his time trying to make his life miserable for the past few years. Flash knew he deserved the treatment he got from his father. He just hoped they would still let him help with the Spider-Man stuff. 

 

Aunt May seemed to read Flash’s mind. “No matter what your parents may have told you, Flash, you don't deserve any of what your father has done to you. No one deserved that kind of treatment. Especially a child.” She leaned over to pull Flash into a hug and he found himself crying at the kindness she was showing him. He hadn't cried in years, even when his mother left but he couldn't stop himself.

 

When Flash had recovered his composure. Uncle Ben told him he was free to stay with them as long as he liked. “I think we should report your father to ACS but the most important thing is that we keep you safe and I will understand if you don't want to take that route. Spider-Man here can help you retrieve your stuff and your father doesn't need to know where you are.”

 

“You can call them if you like. I've had enough of protecting him.” Flash blurted out. Years of buried anger had been released with his flood of tears and he didn't care what happened to his father anymore. Neither of his parents has cared to protect him and keep him safe and while he still couldn't accept that none of it was his fault, he could at least begin to hope that his life could get better. His admiration for Spider-Man had shown him that there was another way to look at the world than how his father had raised him and he was ready to try to change.

 

As Uncle Ben went to make the phone call Flash leaned over to Peter. “You had better not tell anyone about this, Parker,” he hissed.

 

“Hey, you were willing to keep my secret. I promise that I'll keep yours,” Peter answered, blinking back tears of his own. “I'd better go make up a bed for you if you're going to be staying here.” Peter quickly left before things got even more awkward.

 

When he finished making up the bed in his lab for himself and remaking his bed for Flash, Peter found Flash and his Aunt and Uncle sitting in the living room. “I talked to Susan at the ACS and she has agreed that Flash can stay with us for now while they investigate his father. A social worker will be here soon to talk to Flash,” reported Uncle Ben. “If everything goes as I expect we should be able to be assigned Flash’s foster parents so that he can continue to stay with us. This will be a little more complicated than when we adopted you, Peter, but Susan still remembers us from then and doesn't see any problems with it.”

 

“I don't know how to thank you,” said Flash. “I can't believe I'm going to be living with Spider-Man!”

 

*******************

 

Doctor Octavius called Norman Osborne from his lab. “I obtained the blood sample I needed. Arranging a gang fight in a time and location where Spider-Man had been frequently observed made an excellent trap. The results are conclusive, the sample you brought is a match to Spider-Man.” He listened for a few minutes and then replied, “I am working on the serum. I will let you know when it is ready for testing.” He hung up and returned to his work smiling to himself. Norman Osborne thought he was the perfect lackey who would just do as he was told. This would give him the opportunity to free himself from bondage to Oscorp once and for all.

 

**********************

 

It took a while before anyone at school figured out that Flash was staying at Peter’s. They traveled to and from school separately most of the time since Peter never knew when he might be called on to be Spider-Man. Flash would watch for Peter to arrive at the school so that he could make sure that the other boy hadn’t been too badly injured on his way there. He would also text Aunt May to let her know when Peter made it so that she wouldn't worry too much. There was nothing Flash wouldn't do for Peter’s Aunt.

 

When it became known that Flash was living with Peter he was able to make excuses for Peter when he was running late. The teachers found it easy to believe that their erratic but brilliant student was impossible to wake in the mornings especially since he was still showing up to school looking exhausted every day. Peter’s marks had dropped but he was still pulling A’s in all his subjects and Flash’s marks had improved as he tried to be worthy of the trust and affection Aunt May and Uncle Ben showed him, so their teachers figured that it was a win overall.

 

MJ, Gwen and Harry were not so happy about the situation, though. They found it hard to believe that Peter could be ok with having Flash live with him after all those years of bullying. Peter found himself unable to satisfy their misgivings without betraying Flash’s confidence and that he wasn't willing to do. Peter's relationship with Gwen was already strained by his preoccupation with being Spider-Man and this had also affected his friendship with MJ. Harry’s questions were easier to deal with since he had also trusted his secrets to Peter so he had no desire to push his friend for another's secrets. Harry was hard to be around, though, since his drug use was making his behaviour more and more erratic. Peter found himself spending more time with Flash. It was nice to have a peer who knew about his double life. Flash had Peter’s back, both as Peter Parker and as Spider-Man and he appreciated it.


	4. Trauma and Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spider-Man is traumatized but his friends are there for him.

Spider-Man was patrolling before heading to school when he saw the kidnapping. A man had grabbed a young girl walking by a house and pulled her inside as she struggled to get free. Peter quickly swung over to the door they had disappeared behind and tearing it off its hinges, he entered the house. Quietly following the sound of the girls cries he found the kidnapper and his victim. Peter webbed the man and made sure he was secured before turning to the girl. “Spider-Man!” she cried “Thank you for saving me.” She clung to Spider-Man and stared past him at her abductor.

 

Spider-Man reassured the girl that she was safe and the kidnapper wasn't able to hurt her anymore. After Spidey called the police he gently detached himself from the girl and took a quick look around the rest of the house. That was a mistake. Shaken by the things he had found there, Peter returned to the girl and suggested that they wait for the police outside. He didn't want her to see what was in the other rooms.

 

A police car pulled up to the house only a few minutes later. Captain Stacy and a female police officer got out. As the woman took charge of the little girl Stacy approached Spider-Man. He pulled out a card and handed it to Peter. “I have a pretty good idea what you probably found in there. If you need someone to talk to call this number. Dr. Grace is a psychologist who provides trauma counselling to police officers. You can trust her and she can help you.” Spider-Man took the card and slipped it into the hidden pocket in his suit. He gruffly thanked Captain Stacy and swung away before he broke down.

 

MJ was fuming as she watched Gwen glance towards the door for the tenth time that morning. Peter behaviour was really hurting her. Some days he would come in late to school and disappear into the boys bathroom where Flash would join him, even if he had to leave class to do so. On those days Peter avoided Gwen. Then there were the days when he was extremely affectionate towards her, acting as if he could barely stand to let her out of his sight. He didn't seem to be aware of what his erratic behaviour was doing to his girlfriend.

 

MJ looked over at Flash waiting by the doors for Peter to arrive, like a mother hen. MJ wasn’t sure what was going on with Peter but Flash was definitely a part of it. She had heard the rumors about the two boys and even though she didn't believe them, they added to her grievance against Peter. Gwen tried to pretend she didn’t care but MJ could see how much the gossip bothered her. Why couldn’t Peter see how much he was hurting her?

 

Peter arrived at the school, visibly shaking and looking ill. He whispered something to Flash who pulled Peter into an embrace and spoke softly to him, much to the titillation of the other students in the hallway. When Peter pulled away from the embrace, Flash spoke to him again nodding towards Gwen. Peter went over to Gwen and buried his face in her hair, clinging to her like a drowning man hanging on to a life preserver. Gwen returned the embrace gently, her face reflecting the worry she felt for Peter as she realized that he was crying. MJ frowned at the couple, what was up with Peter?

 

They stayed like that until the bell rang and they had to go to class. Peter looked better than he had when he first got to school but he still looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. No one was surprised when he left early that day. As MJ tried to concentrate on her last class of the day the pieces fell into place. She knew what was going on with Peter. He was obviously seriously ill! Like cancer and something, she had to see him!

 

Spider-Man arrived at the address that was on the card that Captain Stacy had given him. It was a small office close to the police station. He took a deep breath and went in. The woman inside greeted him, ”Hello, Spider-Man, my name is Dr. Grace. I was very glad that you called me to make an appointment. Captain Stacy told me about this morning. Please sit down.” After Peter was seated she continued. “If you want to talk about what you saw this morning we can do that but if you would prefer we can work on some visualization exercises first.” Relieved that he wouldn't have to talk about what he had seen yet, Peter elected to do the visualization exercises.

 

After Dr. Grace had lead him through several exercises designed to help him channel his thoughts away from the images of what he had seen and help him relax, Spider felt a lot better. He thought he might actually be able to sleep that night. Dr. Grace finished the session by reminding him that the exercises were only a temporary solution to give him time until he was ready for the work of healing. “I would like to see you regularly for a while, until you have had a chance to work through the trauma of what has happened to you and what you have seen. And remember don't push away those who care about you. In those who spend their lives fighting against the dark it is very common to feel that you will infect those you are close to with that darkness but that is a mistake. You need to maintain those connections for your own sake as well as theirs. You cannot fight the dark if you close yourself off from the light.”

 

After Spider-Man left, Dr. Grace went to the station house and found Captain Stacy in his office. “George, what do you know about this Spider-Man you sent to me?” she asked.

 

The Captain looked up in surprise, “Well, he became active as a vigilante around three months ago and stepped up his activity level markedly just over two months ago. He has super strength and can stick to walls. He also uses artificial webbing, both to capture criminals and to move around the city and given how quickly he has gotten back into action after the injuries that I know of he must have enhanced healing as well.”

 

“Well, I can add one more thing to your list. Spider-Man is young. He's only a teenager, George.”

 

Captain Stacy sat bolt upright, “Are you sure?”

 

“I'm sure. I think he's probably in his mid teens. He definitely isn't any older than 17. He tries to act older but he forgot to maintain it once we were well into the session.”

 

“I had no idea. This morning was the first time I actually saw him myself and he didn’t really say anything to me. He just took your card and swung away.” George Stacy rubbed his face obviously upset by the news. Dr. Grace relaxed as she realized her friend really hadn't known how young her new patient was. Captain Stacy suddenly swung back to his computer and called up a program. “Here is a map of all the 911 calls involving or initiated by Spider-Man. He's high school age right?” Dr. Grace nodded not sure where Stacy was going with this.

 

“I'm going to tell the program to give me only the calls that happened between 6 and 9 in the morning, before the school day starts.” The screen now showed a narrow band of dots stretching between a neighbourhood in Queens and.. “Midtown High School!” Captain Stacy exclaimed. “That's Gwen’s school. Spider-Man must be one of her classmates. Hmm, not all of the calls happened outside of school hours. I bet if I got the school attendance records and compared them to the call logs I could figure out who he is.”

 

Dr. Grace broke in. “I don't think that would be a good idea. He is very protective of his secret identity. Other than his age he didn't let anything slip.”

 

“I can't just let a kid keep putting himself in danger like that.” protested Captain Stacy.

 

“Even if you do find out who he is, how are you going to stop him? Using his powers to fight crime is obviously very important to him. I would say it that it probably rises to the level of an obsession. He won't stop willingly.”

 

“He'll stop if we arrest him.” growled Stacy.

 

“And then what? You'll send him to juvie with a record? That would be a poor return for all that he's done for this city in the last few months. You got him to come to me, please don't scare him away before I can help him.” She pleaded.

 

Stacy sighed. “OK. I won't try to figure out who he is yet. I hope I'm not making a big mistake.”

 

When Spider-Man got home from his appointment Aunt May signalled to him from the window of his room. “I'm glad you're home. MJ is here looking for you. I told her you were resting but I would see if you were up.”

 

“Tell her I'll be right there.” said Peter as he climbed in the window. After his Aunt left he changed hurriedly and went out to see what MJ wanted.

 

“Peter!” MJ cried as he came into the room. She was obviously upset. “Why didn't you tell us?”

 

“Tell you what?” Peter asked, playing for time.

 

“Did you think I wouldn't figure it out? It's so obvious with all the school you've been missing. I know you're sick. It must be serious if you didn't want to tell us.”

 

“What! I'm not sick.” protested Peter.

 

MJ was taken aback. She could tell Peter was telling the truth. “Then what is going on with you! You had a perfect attendance record until you got bit by a spider on the Oscorp field trip and missed a day of school. Then three weeks later you take off in the middle of the day and come to school the next day looking like you were run over by a truck. You look exhausted all the time. You keep missing school and you spend half your time avoiding me and Gwen when you are there but you're always hanging out with Flash, with his stupid Spider-Man obsession.” MJ stopped short as she processed what she had just said.

 

“That’s what's going on! You're Spider-Man! Don't try to deny it. It all fits together. That day you left early, that was the day of the big fire. Everyone was talking about how Spider-Man saved all those people from the fire. I bet if I compared the times you were absent with the stories on Flash’s site I would find that a lot of them match.”

 

Peter realized that there was not much use denying it. MJ knew him too well. She could always tell when he was lying. “OK. You're right I am Spider-Man. That spider bite gave me superpowers and I'm trying to do some good with them.”

 

“Peter, you need to tell Gwen about this. As soon as possible.” MJ insisted. “You're behaviour has been really hurting her and she deserves to know what's going on.”

 

“I can't tell her,” Peter protested. “You know she finds Spider-Man creepy. If she knew I was Spider-Man she would break up with me.”

“Are you even listening to yourself. You are keeping this a secret from your girlfriend so she won't break up with you? If you think being Spider-Man will affect how Gwen feels about you and your relationship, then you  **really** need to tell her. It's not fair to her to do anything else!” MJ yelled at Peter.

 

Peter backed away from MJ. “Aunt May?”

 

“Don't look at me Peter. MJ is right. If your being Spider-Man is affecting your relationship with Gwen then she has a right to know the truth. I'm sure you can trust her to keep your secret.”

 

Peter replied, “Of course I can trust her. I just don't want to lose her.” Then it hit him, “Oh no! I got so caught up in my own fear of being rejected that I stopped trusting her. I stopped really seeing her at all. You’re right MJ I need to tell her right away!” and he was gone. In a few minutes Spider-Man swung by the kitchen window on his way to Gwen’s.

 

For once Peter made it to Gwen’s without encountering any crime on the way. The one time he would have welcomed the delay.  _ Come on Peter. Don't be a wimp. You can do this. _ He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping Gwen was home. Captain Stacy opened the door. “Hello Peter, come in. I just got here myself but I'm sure Gwen is around somewhere.”

 

Peter felt strange seeing the police captain again after that morning. He really wanted to thank him for his kindness but of course he couldn't. He really didn't want Captain Stacy to know that Spider-Man was only a high school student. He was pretty sure the Captain wouldn't approve. “Thank you, sir. Gwen’s not expecting me but there's something I need to talk to her about, privately. You see she's pretty upset with me right now.” Peter trailed off.

 

“And you want to make things right. I'll go get her for you.” Stacy left and Peter waited nervously in the living room for Gwen to come.

 

“Peter?” When he heard the hesitation in Gwen’s voice Peter wanted to kick himself, again. He had really messed up big time.

 

“Hi Gwen, I wanted to apologize for my behaviour these last few months and I need to tell you something.” Peter drew Gwen into the room and shut the door behind her. Now how to start. “I'm really sorry that I've been neglecting you so badly lately. I'm also sorry that I haven't been completely honest with you.”  _ Good start, now for the hard part. _ “Do you remember when I was bitten by that spider three months ago?” Gwen nodded, obviously puzzled by the direction the conversation had taken.

 

“Well, that spider bite gave me superpowers. I'm super strong and I can stick to walls.”

 

“Wait a minute,” Gwen demanded. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re Spider-Man.”

 

“That's right, I'm Spider-Man.” Peter figured he had to show her proof so he kicked off his shoes and jumped up onto the wall.

 

Gwen gasped. “Everything makes a lot more sense now,” she said as Peter lowered himself to the floor and put his shoes back on. “You were missing our dates because you fighting crime, weren't you?”

 

“Yes, and the times I avoided you at school was because I had been hurt and didn't want you to know because I couldn't explain  **how** I got hurt.”

 

“And Flash knows?” Gwen asked, putting the pieces together.

 

“Yes, he figured it out himself. It gave me a real shock when he called me Peter when I was in my suit.”

 

“What were you and Flash doing in the bathroom all those times?”

 

“Oh, Flash was patching me up. Sometimes an encounter on the way to school would get out of hand and I would need some first aid. Flash had promised Aunt May he would make sure I was OK when I got to school. He even texts her so she knows how I'm doing. It's like having my own personal nurse maid.”

 

“That makes sense. I'm glad that someone was looking out for you. So I take it that means that your Aunt and Uncle know?”

 

“Yes and MJ figured it out today. She's the reason I managed to get my head out of my ass and come here to apologise. She made me see that I wasn't being fair to you by not telling you. And that's everybody who knows.”

 

“MJ is a good friend.” Gwen remarked.

 

Peter waited as Gwen absorbed this information. He knew better than to push her when she needed to take her time but the wait was agonizing. She seemed to be more interested than upset but Gwen could be hard to read. “I guess Spider-Man isn't as creepy as I thought.” said Gwen as she moved into Peter’ arms. “In fact he's kind of sexy.” That ended the conversation for a while.

 

When they came up for air Peter breathed a sigh of relief. “I was really afraid you would dump me,” he said. “After all, who wants to date a mutant freak.”

 

“A mutant freak  **hero** ,” corrected Gwen. “You know my Dad thinks that you are doing a really good job. He keeps talking about how Spider-Man never uses excessive force in his captures and stuff like that. He really seems to admire you.”

 

Peter was stunned. Captain Stacy admired him? “It's the web-slingers,” he said bashfully, extending his wrists so that she could see the concealed devices. “They make it easy to stop people without hurting them.”

 

“Did you make those? Can I see them?” Gwen leaned in to look closer at the web-slingers clearly fascinated.

 

“Sure,” said Peter removing one of his web-slingers to show her. Their heads close together over the web-slinger, Peter explained how they worked and how he had come up with the formula for the web fluid. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed explaining his inventions to Gwen. She always grasped what he was trying for and had intelligent questions that helped him clarify his own thoughts.

 

Peter quickly tucked away the web-slinger when the door knob rattled. Mrs. Stacy came into the room to inform Gwen that supper was ready. “Would you like to stay and eat with us, Peter? You are welcome to.” She asked.

 

“No, I'd better get home. Aunt May will be expecting me. I'll see you tomorrow at school, Gwen.” Peter took his leave and headed home. He was glad MJ had shown him what an ass he was being. On the weekend he would show Gwen the city from the rooftops. He was still smiling when he climbed in through his window and joined his family for supper.

 

********************

 

Dr. Octavius looked up as Norman Osborne entered the lab. “I have the goblin formula ready, Mr. Osborne. I'm just waiting for the final results on the last test subject.”

 

“Excellent.” Norman walked over to look at the information appearing on the screen in front of Dr. Octavius. Satisfied with the results shown he picked up the syringe lying on the table. “What results can I expect from the serum and how long will the changes take?”

 

“It should give you super strength and enhanced healing like Spider-Man has. I wasn't able to replicate the ability to stick to surfaces but you did say that wasn't as important. As for how long, you will feel sick for a day or two as the changes take place.”

 

“Excellent,” said Osborne again. “Ok, I'm ready. Let's do this.” He handed the syringe to Dr. Octavius who injected the contents into his arm and escorted him to a room near the lab. Norman Osborne was already feeling the effects of the injection as he lay down on the bed there. 

 

After Dr. Octavius left Mr. Osborne he smiled to himself. After years of having his genius exploited while he remained locked away in this hidden lab he would have his revenge. 

 

A couple of days later Norman Osborne woke up feeling better than he had in years. He looked around the room and then he picked up the bed and threw it across the room. He smiled. The formula had worked! He still hoped to get Spider-Man to work with him in his plans but now he would be able to defeat him if necessary.

 

**********************

 

Peter woke up on Saturday, eager for the day ahead. Ever since his session with Dr. Grace he had finally been able to sleep without exhausting himself first, those exercises she had showed him really did work. He sprang from bed and dressed in his Spider-Man suit, except for the mask. Gwen was going to come over that afternoon to see what Spider-Man could do and Peter was really looking forward to that.

 

Peter left his room to find Flash talking to his Aunt. Aunt May greeted Peter and told him that Flash had decided to join them in doing yoga that morning.

 

“Really? That’s great Flash. You'll get a lot out of it but it won't be easy at first.” Peter responded.

 

“How hard can it be?” asked Flash.

 

“You'll see,” Aunt May said. “We'll start with some basic poses to ease you in.”

 

About halfway through the session Flash had to drop out with a groan. “I hurt in muscles I didn't even know I had.” He complained as he watched Aunt May and Peter finish. “You've been doing this even before you became Spider-Man? You were a lot tougher than I thought, Peter.”

 

Peter grinned. “I'm better at it now than I used to be. The extra strength and agility do help.”

 

When Peter and Aunt May finished, the two boys went into the kitchen to get started on the pancakes. They had decided that Aunt May did enough cooking during the week so they had taken over the weekend meals. Flash was actually a pretty good cook since he had needed to do all the cooking for himself and his father after his mother had left them. As the boys joked around in the kitchen, making the pancakes, Peter marveled at how close he felt to Flash. He knew he could count on the other boy, no matter what happened. Flash had demonstrated that countless times since he had moved in with them.

 

Shortly after they finished with breakfast, Gwen arrived. Peter quickly grabbed his mask and web-slingers and put them on. Gwen studied him for a minute and then folded up the bottom of his mask so that she could give him a kiss. “Definitely, not creepy,” she murmured. Peter grinned and jumped up to hang from the ceiling by his hands. He then pulled his feet up to the ceiling and ended up hanging upside down in front of Gwen. “How about now?” He asked.

 

Gwen took his hands in hers and looked at them carefully. “How does that work?” she asked.

 

“I’m not sure,” Peter responded as he flipped back to the floor. He peeled off his gloves and suggested that they take a look at his hand through his microscope. Gwen and Peter spent a while experimenting with his stickiness trying to figuring out how they worked. They enjoyed arguing about different theories, although they weren’t able to agree on a definite conclusion. 

 

“We had better get going, Gwen,” Peter said as he noticed the time.

 

“You still haven’t told me were we are going,” Gwen commented.

 

“There’s someone I want you to meet. Are you ready to swing?” Peter opened his window and waited for Gwen. She approached hesitatingly.

 

“Are you sure it’s safe?” She asked.

 

“Of course, I will make a harness for you so that you can’t fall.” Peter picked up Gwen and secured her to himself with his webs and then went out the window. Gwen gasped as Spidey  jumped away from the window and swung down the street with his webs. By the time they landed on a quiet street near Gwen’s house, she was laughing in delight.

 

“That was terrifying and amazing!” She exclaimed. “Is that how you always get around? No wonder you love being Spider-Man.” She looked around. “Where are we?”

 

“As I said there is someone I would like you to meet, come on.” Spider-Man led the way up the steps of the house they had landed in front of. When he knocked on the door, Gwen heard a delighted cry and the sound of running. The door was shortly opened by a young boy. “Hello, Tommy.” said Spider-Man.

 

“Hi, Spidey-man, come in.” The small boy answered. His mother, repeated the invitation as she came up behind him.

 

“Gwen, this is Tommy and his mother, Emma,” Peter said as he stepped into the room. “This is my friend Gwen, Tommy.” He continued. Gwen greeted the mother and son as she followed Peter inside. “Tommy is my inspiration, Gwen. He’s the real reason I love being Spider-Man. No matter what happens to me it is all worth it because I can help people like Tommy.”

 

“Spidey-man made me fly and saved me from the cars!” exclaimed Tommy excitedly, pleased to have a new audience for his story. “I was a bad boy and ran away from Mommy and Spidey-man made me fly with his web.”

 

“I hope you don’t mind but we there were a few other people who wanted to be here today.” said Emma. As she spoke a couple came out from the other room accompanied by a young girl who was obviously their daughter. Gwen felt Peter stiffen beside her and then he took a deep breath and relaxed again.

 

Peter stepped forward and crouched down in front of the girl so that she was looking down on him slightly. “Hello, I never got your name when we met before. I’m Spider-Man.”

 

The girl smiled, “I’m Sarah, this is my Mom, Rose and my Dad, Harvey. Thank you, Spider-Man.” She gave him a big hug before going over to Tommy and starting to play a game with him.

Peter stood up and looked at Sarah’s parents. “Is she ok?” He asked anxiously. “That was a pretty traumatizing thing to have happen.”

 

“She’s had some nightmares and is pretty anxious about leaving the house alone. We have her in therapy though and the therapist says she is responding well. She will be ok and we have you to thank for that.” responded Rose smiling at Peter.

 

“We are both very grateful to you. More so than we can say. You have saved us from a parent’s worst nightmare and anything we can do for you we will,” added Harvey grasping Spider-Man’s hand in both of his own. Peter murmured something in response and then turned to Tommy and Sarah.

 

“It was nice to meet you again, Sarah. Tommy I need to go now but I will visit you again, soon.”

 

Peter then said his goodbyes to the adults and waited for Gwen to do the same, before quickly leaving the house. Gwen caught up to him at the bottom of the stairs puzzled at their rapid departure. That’s when she noticed Peter was shaking. “Are you ok?” she asked.

 

“No I’m not.” He managed to get out. “I need to get out of here. I’m about to fall apart.”

 

“We can go to my house,” said Gwen. “Come on.” She lead Peter to her house and took him inside. As soon as he was in he tore off his mask and collapsed on the floor, burying his face in his knees. Gwen dropped down beside him and held him as he cried. She felt bewildered by his reaction to meeting the family at Tommy’s house but she knew she wanted to be there for him.

 

Captain Stacy looked into the entryway and then quickly came over to them. “We’d better get him into my office behind a closed door. It’s probably best if your younger siblings don’t see him like this.” He said to Gwen and helped her get Peter off of the floor. “Come on Peter, let’s get you somewhere more private.”

 

Behind his calm demeanor, Captain Stacy was shaken. Even though he knew that Spider-Man was probably a student at Gwen’s school, he never suspected that it might be Peter. He wondered how long Gwen had known. 

 

Once they were in his office Captain Stacy asked Gwen what had happened. “I don't know. We were visiting a little boy that Spider-Man had rescued when he had run out into the road and there was another family there, a girl and her parents. Peter seemed fine when he was talking to them although he seemed really worried about the girl but when we left he just fell apart.”

 

“Sarah and her parents were there? That explains it. Peter wouldn't have been ready to be reminded of that again.” Captain Stacy then turned his attention to the traumatized teen sitting in his desk chair. Kneeling before the boy he took his hands and spoke gently to him. “It's ok, Peter. Sarah is safe. You were able to save her and her kidnapper won't be able to hurt anyone else, ever again. We were able to find enough evidence to put him away for the rest of his life.”

 

Peter looked up. “It's not enough,” he said, his eyes full of pain.

 

“I know son, it's never enough. You can't save them all and that hurts. You need to focus on the ones you did save. The ones who will never be in danger because of what you did.” The look in Peter's eyes tore at Stacy’s heart. The boy was too young to be dealing with these things, but he could see that Dr. Grace was right, he couldn't stop the boy now, it was too late for that. “Focus on those that you will be able to save in the future if you take care of yourself now,” he continued. “Now I know Dr. Grace would have given you some exercises to do. I would suggest you do those now. You can stay here as long as you like and I will stay with you if you want me too.”

 

“Please stay. It helps to have someone who understands. Thank you.” Peter looked over at Gwen. “I'm sorry, Gwen. I know ruined our date but thank you for being there for me.”

 

“It's ok, Peter.” Gwen smiled at him. “I love you.”

 

“And I love you, too. Now I guess I better do those visualization exercises.” Peter closed his eyes and slowly began to relax. After awhile he opened his eyes again and looked at Captain Stacy who was still kneeling in front of him. His eyes widened as he remembered that he had removed his mask. Gwen’s father now knew that he was Spider-Man!

 

Stacy realized what the boy was thinking. “It's OK, son. I don't know what happened to you but I've been watching what you have been doing as Spider-Man the past few months. I won't try to stop you but you must promise me one thing. Continue to see Dr. Grace and take care of yourself. You can't help anyone if you exhaust yourself trying to help everyone. No one can be everywhere and we all need down time and help now and then.”

 

Peter promised and Gwen informed him that she would be keeping an eye on him to make sure he kept his promise. Captain Stacy then checked to make sure the way was clear before Spider-Man put on his mask again and left.

 

“You’re home earlier than I expected. I hope everything is ok?” said Aunt May as Peter came into the kitchen. “Have you had lunch?”

 

“Everything's fine, Aunt May. Well not fine exactly but I’m OK. I messed up and now Captain Stacy knows I’m Spider-Man as well. He took it a lot better than I would have expected, though. He says he won’t try to stop me from being Spider-Man as long as I keep seeing Dr. Grace and try to take care of myself. I think he really understands how much I need to do this. And no I haven’t had lunch yet.”

 

“Of course Captain Stacy understands. He wouldn’t be the policeman he is if he didn’t feel the same way.” Aunt May said as she started to prepare some lunch for Peter.

 

Peter stopped her. “Remember we had an agreement, Aunt May. You don’t do any cooking on the weekends. I can make my own lunch.” Aunt May laughed and let him take over preparing his lunch.


	5. Green Goblin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spider-Man has his first encounter with a super villain.

“When do you have to leave for your dinner with the Osborne’s?” she asked.

 

“I forgot about that!” said Peter. “I think Mr. Osborne will be sending the car around for me about 6. He’s celebrating Harry’s latest report card. I guess he really managed to pull his marks up.” 

 

At 6 o’clock Peter stepped into Norman Osborne’s limo to be greeted by Mr. Osborne. “Peter, I’m glad to see you. I’m sure that you share a lot of the credit for Harry’s good grades. Right Harry?”

 

“Actually, sir, Harry deserves all the credit. I know he has been working very hard lately.” Peter wondered what Mr. Osborne would think if he knew what Harry was doing to give himself the energy and focus to bring his grades up so quickly.

 

Osborne brushed aside what Peter had said and went on. “Don’t be so modest. You’ve always been a good influence on him. Have you thought about applying for an internship at Oscorp. We could really use someone of your talents.” Before Peter could reply they arrived at the restaurant. The food there was very good but Peter found the dinner awkward. Harry hardly ate anything and didn’t talk very much either. He just fiddled with the food on his plate, shifting in his seat, while his father monopolized the conversation. Mr. Osborne spent most of the dinner talking about Oscorp and Harry and Peter’s futures there.

 

After dinner Norman invited Peter to the condo. When they got there he suggested Peter spend the night with Harry. “I’ve got to go back to work for a few hours and I’m sure Harry would like the company,” he said, before leaving.

 

After Mr. Osborne left Harry pulled out a bottle of wine. “Here Peter have some. We can toast I bright new futures at Oscorp,” he said. When Peter refused he shrugged. “Suit yourself, I need my nightcap if I’m going to sleep tonight.” Harry took a swig from the bottle.

 

“Are you sure you should be doing that Harry?” asked Peter. He wasn’t really thrilled about watching Harry drink himself into oblivion.

 

“I told you, I need it if I’m going to sleep tonight. The coke has done wonders for my ability to concentrate on my school work but it does make it hard to sleep. So I finally found out how to make my dad proud. I just needed a little pharmaceutical boost.” He drank some more.

 

“That can’t be good for you, Harry. I’m worried about you.” Peter watched Harry work his way through the bottle with a frown.

 

“If you’re not going to join me just leave. I don’t need you to stand there worrying. I’ve got everything under control.” Harry finished off the bottle. “I’m going to bed. Goodbye.”

After Harry disappeared into the bedroom, Peter let himself out of the condo and changed into his spider suit in the first hidden spot he found. Stuffing his clothes into a backpack he fashioned out of webbing he swung off into the night. As he swung through the city he found himself heading towards the business district. It was pretty quiet after dark on a Saturday, which was why he noticed the activity at the bank. Peter saw a dark form at the doors of the bank just before the person he had spotted tore open the doors. Peter stopped and stared. Someone with super strength had just broke into the bank! Peter stashed his clothes and quietly followed them inside.

 

Spider-Man moved cautiously through the bank, listening to the sounds which seemed to be coming from the vault. When he got there and looked inside he saw a man dressed in a green goblin suit pick up a safety deposit box. While the man was intent on his find Peter slipped into the room and crawled up to the ceiling. He had found by experience that people didn’t tend to look up. Crawling across the ceiling Spider-Man watched as the Green Goblin wrenched open the box in his hand and removed it’s contents. Once Peter was above the man he webbed him thoroughly. The Goblin looked up at Spider-Man and laughed.

 

“Nice try, web slinger but I’m not caught so easily,” he said as he strained against the web, tearing it and freeing himself.

 

_ Shit.  _ Thought Peter. “Nice costume, are you going trick-or treating when you’re done here?” He taunted. “I don’t think green is really your colour. It makes you look like a goblin.”

 

The Green Goblin snarled at Peter and pulled a device off of his belt. Spidey’s spider sense flared and he leapt to the other side of the room as the Green Goblin lobbed it at him. The device stuck to the ceiling and exploded blowing a hole in the roof of the bank. The Green Goblin then pulled out another device which unfolded into a small glider which he used to fly out through the hole. Moving quickly, Spider-Man managed to attach webbing to the glider and quickly crawled up it to confront the super villain. When the Goblin noticed him he used a boomerang like device to cut the web causing Peter to fall. Spidey tried to grab the glider with his web again but missed as the Goblin flew in an evasive pattern. Peter then had to use his webbing to stop his fall. He watched from a nearby building as the Green Goblin got away.

 

_ Note to self, webbing doesn’t work against super strong villains.  _ Thought Spidey as he pulled out his cell phone to notify the police of the robbery.  _ J. Jameson is going to have a field day with this. _ Peter had trouble falling asleep again that night. His total failure to stop the Green Goblin was bothering him. He needed to come up with a solution.

 

*********************

 

Norman Osborne arrived at his secret lab and stripped off the goblin costume he was wearing. His trial run as Green Goblin had been successful but he was annoyed that his attempt to keep Spider-Man away hadn’t worked. He should have known that Harry would blow it. The boy was becoming increasingly unmanageable, maybe Peter Parker wasn’t as good an influence as he thought. Osborne dismissed the thought from his mind and gloated over his prize. These plans from a rival company would give Oscorp a leg up. He now knew exactly what they were building and could figure out how to do it faster and cheaper.

 

*********************

 

The next day Peter went to see Captain Stacy. He needed to talk to someone about what had happened the other night and he thought the Captain might have some ideas. After he explained what had happened Stacy frowned thoughtfully. “A superhuman in a green goblin suit armed with bombs. Thanks for the heads up. I will spread the word to watch out for him.”

 

Captain Stacy tried to tell him that it wasn't his job to stop the Green Goblin but Peter wasn't convinced. He knew he had a better chance against the super villain than the police. He just needed to figure out how to stop him. He spent the rest of the day in his lab working on improving the strength of his webs. The next time he encountered the Green Goblin he would be ready.

 

Peter was late to school on Monday, not because he was patrolling but because he had another appointment with Dr. Grace. Even though it was a difficult session he felt better when they were done. His breakdown on Saturday had shown him that he needed to deal with this stuff before it impaired his ability to act as Spider-Man. He felt he had let Tommy and Sarah down by not being able to stay longer and he didn’t want that to happen again. He arrived at school in a good mood, looking forward to the day with his friends, even though the threat of the Green Goblin was never far from his mind.

 

After Peter left Dr. Grace’s office, Captain Stacy knocked on her door. “What do you think Doctor? Will he be ok?” He asked anxiously. “He was in pretty bad shape on the weekend and I’m worried that it’s going to be too much for him.”

 

“I am sure that he will be just fine. In a lot of ways his youth makes him more resilient and he is very responsive to therapy.” Dr. Grace had some questions of her own. “How did it happen that you were with him this weekend? He told me about what happened but he wasn’t very clear how you ended up being there. You didn’t go and try to find out who he really was did you?” If that was the case she was going to be really upset with the Captain.

 

Captain Stacy smiled wryly. “I didn’t need to. He showed up at my house in the middle of a breakdown and removed his mask as soon as he got inside. It turns out I already knew him in his secret identity.”

 

“Well, I’m glad that he was willing to turn to you when he needed help. The more support he has from people who know who he really is the easier my job will be. Especially, someone like you who has some idea what he is facing as Spider-Man.”

 

“I was able to determine that his guardians also know about him being Spider-Man as well. Apparently, he told them when he first found out about his abilities.” Captain Stacy informed Dr. Grace, before leaving her to prepare for her next patient. The conversation left both of them feeling a lot better about Spider-Man’s future. He had a good support network in place which would make a big difference in how well he could cope with the stresses of being a superhero.

 

*********************

 

Peter gasped as Flash stitched up the wound on his arm. “What's going on, Peter?” asked Flash as he worked. You've been getting hurt a lot more recently. It seems like I'm having to patch you up every time you go out as Spider-Man.”

 

“I don't know. I thought crime rates were up for some reason but Captain Stacy says the police aren't seeing more crime, it's just me. All I know is that I'm finding more crooks to stop and they're tougher than they used to be.” Peter relaxed as Flash tied the last knot and bandaged his arm. “There seems to be a limit to how many threats my spider sense can handle at once before something gets through.”

 

“Well, please try not to get hurt so often. I'm not sure if my reputation going to survive disappearing into the bathroom with you every morning.” Flash jokingly complained as he quickly packed up his first aid kit. Then more seriously he added, “It's worrying Aunt May too, you know.”

 

Peter nodded seriously, “I know. I am being as careful as I can but I can't stop patrolling altogether. The people of New York need me.”

 

Knowing that Peter wouldn't listen to anything else he had to say on the subject Flash remained silent as the two boys left the washroom to go to class. Peter’s injuries were all relatively minor ones but the frequency with which he was getting injured was alarming.

 

Peter was also worried about the increase in criminal activity that he was encountering. He hadn't told Flash but that morning he had been hit with an attack that he hadn’t sensed before it happened. That's how his arm had been hurt. He had landed in an alley because he had seen a woman lying there apparently hurt. When he approached her someone had attacked him from behind and the woman had run off. He had been able to subdue his attacker easily but not before he was hurt. It was almost like something had blocked his spider sense.

 

Later that day in the lunchroom, Harry stopped by the table where Peter and his friends were sitting at looking at the latest news reports on Spider-Man. “What’s this Pete, a meeting of the Spider-Man fan club?,” he teased.

 

“Yep,” responded Peter. “Would you like join us?”

 

“Why not?” responded Harry, sitting down with them. “I have nothing better to do.”

 

“I can’t believe the nonsense their publishing about Spider-Man.” Gwen said angrily. “I can’t believe anyone thinks he’s a menace.”

 

“That’s J.J. Jameson for you. I swear the man is arachnophobic or something.” Peter replied.

 

“It’s not just JJ.” MJ told him in a concerned tone. “Look at the headlines, it seems like all the newspapers are calling Spider-Man a menace and calling for the police to stop him.”

Peter looked at the display on MJ’s phone and frowned. “That’s odd. Usually the other papers ignore Spider-Man completely or write positive stuff about him. JJ is the only one who seemed obsessed with the ‘Spider-Man is a menace’ stuff.”

 

“It’s not just the papers. My dad tells me that the police are under pressure to try to stop Spider-Man instead of accepting his help,” Gwen told Peter. “He’s doing his best to counter the pressure when he talks to the Chief but there’s only so much he can do.”

 

Peter frowned. “That’s bad. Spider-Man can’t be nearly as effective without police co-operation.”

 

Harry laughed suddenly. “What is this, A strategy session? You sound like you’re Spider-Man’s advisers or something.”

 

The four teens looked at each other in consternation, then Peter laughed too, “You’re right Harry. It’s not like Spider-Man needs the help of a bunch of teenagers. He’s a superhero after all. He can deal with little bit of bad publicity and it’s not like anyone knows who he really is.”

 

Flash smiled at Peter. “You’re right but when you admire someone as much as I admire Spider-Man, you want to do whatever you can to help them. Whether they really need it or not.”

 

Peter’s eyes softened as he looked at Flash and he gave the other boy a gentle punch on the arm. “I’m sure Spider-Man appreciates everything you do for him. I mean your web page and all.”

 

Harry’s eyes widened as he watched this exchange between the other two boys. He had heard the rumors about Peter and Flash of course but he hadn’t believed them before now. Then he shook his head. Peter was as straight as they come, Harry was sure he would have found out before if his friend was into boys.  _ After all Peter isn’t very good at keeping secrets, especially from me,  _ thought Harry.  _ It definitely wasn’t very hard to figure out he was into Gwen when he was still getting up the nerve to ask her out. _ Satisfied with his own conclusions, Harry turned his attention back to the conversation which had now moved away from discussing Spider-Man.

 

***********************************

 

Doctor Octavius looked up at Norman Osborne. “The results from the latest test were completely satisfactory, we now have a way of blocking Spider-Man’s extra sense. He did not notice the attacker until he was injured.”

 

“Excellent,” responded Norman. “The smear campaign has been proceeding well, also. I believe we are ready for the next step. It is time to capture Spider-Man.” As Norman prepared he found himself torn between elation and distrust. Everything was going according to plan but he was unable to rid himself of the sensation that someone was moving against him.

 

*********************

 

“Are you sure it's a good idea to go on patrol this evening?” Flash asked Peter as they left the school to head home. “That cut was pretty deep. I doubt it's healed well enough to not reopen when you swing.”

 

Peter winced as he felt the bandaged area on his arm. “You're right. I'd better take the night off. You did such a good job on stitching it up I would hate to ruin your handiwork.” As the two boys started on their walk Peter reflected that it had been a long time since he had walked home from school. He usually preferred faster methods of travel but it was a nice day for a walk and Flash was good company.

 

*********************

 

Norman Osborne arrived home late that night in a foul mood. He had spent most of the evening flying around the city as Green Goblin waiting to hear that Spider-Man had been seen on patrol but Spider-Man hadn’t shown up. He was sure that somehow, someone had tipped the superhero off about the planned ambush. Why else would Spider-Man take that night of all nights off.

 

When Osborne entered his condo he found Harry there, fiddling with his phone. Harry looked up and smiled, “Dad! I wasn't sure if you were going to be home tonight. How was your day.”

 

Norman scowled at his son. “Was Peter Parker at school today Harry?” he demanded.

 

Harry was puzzled but answered, “Yes, I saw him at lunch. He and his friends were talking about Spider-Man again. It's not my favorite subject but their enthusiasm is amusing.”

 

_ I thought so, if Parker was at school he should have been out as Spider-Man as well. Something tipped him off.  _ Norman eyed his son suspiciously, “Did you say anything to them about me or my schedule today?”

 

“No, why should I. Even if I wanted to I couldn't say anything about your schedule because you never tell me anything,” Harry complained. “I never know when you're going to be around.”

 

Norman wasn't sure if he believed Harry.  _ Peter probably got the information from him without Harry even realizing it. The boy is much too gullible.  _ With this thought in mind Norman announced he was going to bed and disappeared from the room.

 

Harry frowned in puzzlement. His father had been acting odd lately and he had no idea what to do about it. Puzzling over this new problem was too much for him. He retrieved his bottle of wine from it’s hiding place and went to bed as well.

 

*********************

 

Peter casually checked his phone as he ate breakfast and felt his stomach drop. The Green Goblin had been seen flying around the city the night before! Peter quickly pulled the article and read through it. To his relief it sounded like the Goblin hadn’t done anything but scare people but he still felt like he had let everyone down. It was his responsibility to stop the Green Goblin. He was definitely going on patrol that night.

 

Both Flash and Aunt May fussed at Peter when he announced his decision but his arm was completely healed. There was no reason for him to stay home again another night. Uncle Ben took Peter’s side of the argument which quickly brought it to a close. “Please be careful Peter,” he added. “I understand why you need to go and face the Green Goblin but he is dangerous. You should let Captain Stacy know what is going on so that you have backup.”

 

Peter agreed that he would phone Captain Stacy at some point during the day, before he left for school. He hoped he wouldn't need it but it would be good to know that the police would also be looking for the Green Goblin while he was out there.

 

Spider-Man’s patrol that night started off uneventfully. After swinging through the streets, stopping the occasional small time crook he encountered, for an hour without seeing hide nor hair of the Goblin he started to relax. He landed on a rooftop and looked out over the city not even noticing the small device that landed beside him and started to release a gas. Peter didn't realize there was anything wrong until he started to feel faint. Just before he passed out he felt a pair of strong arms grab him.

 

When Peter regained consciousness he found himself restrained in a chair with metal cuffs at his ankles and wrists. Standing over him was the Green Goblin. “Spider-Man, it's good to have a chance to talk to you,” he said genially. “Don't bother to struggle, the restraints can withstand a great deal of force, you won't be able to break them. I can't have you leaving before we've had our little talk after all.”

 

Green Goblin then turned towards the man standing beside him. Peter had been so intent on the Green Goblin that he hadn't even noticed him until that moment. “To start with, let me introduce my associate, Dr. Octavius.” 

 

Peter stared at the scientist and his mechanical arms. “Pleased to meet you Doc Oc. I hope you don't mind if I call you Doc Oc, it suits you somehow,” Peter said as he tried to figure out what was going on. “If you don't mind me asking Goby why am I'm here? Excuse me for being suspicious but the restraints don't exactly inspire confidence.”

 

“Why I was hoping to clear up any little misunderstanding left over from our first meeting my dear spider. I'm afraid you might be under a misapprehension as to my purpose at the bank that night,” the Goblin explained.

 

“I'm not sure what there is to misunderstand. You were clearly robbing the bank.”

 

“That is how it appeared but I had a very good reason for breaking into that bank and I truly regret the damage to property that I resulted. You see this is what I retrieved from the bank that night.” The Green Goblin turned on a projected display in front of Spider-Man. It showed the specifications and plans for a large weapon. “You see little spider I had learned of the creation of this weapon. It's creator had planned to sell it to the highest bidder and I could not allow such a weapon to be unleashed on the unsuspecting world. I do hope that in future endeavors I can count on your assistance instead of your hindrance.”

 

Spider-Man studied the weapon. Had he been wrong all along about the Green Goblin’s motivations? Stopping a weapon like that from being made was worth a little property damage. Still something didn't seem right. Peter decided to play along at least while he tried to figure things out. “I guess I was wrong about you Goby. You are one of the good guys. You can’t blame me for being confused by your costume though, it's just a little terrifying.”

 

“More terrifying than some people find spiders?”

 

“Touchè,” responded Peter. “You've got me there, Goby. Anyways, now that we're on the same page how about you let me free.”

 

“Not so fast, little spider. I don't want you to run away just yet. You must hear me out first,” the Green Goblin picked up one of Peter’s web-slingers that had been sitting on a desk beside him. “We've been examining your web shooters here and we’re impressed. Aren't we Dr. Octavius? We could use someone of your obvious talents on our team. What do you say Spider-Man? Give up this piddling little crime fighting, stopping common thugs and the like and join us in the big time. They don't appreciate you in this city anyways.”

 

Peter was taken aback. That was not what he had expected. He would never give up helping his fellow New Yorkers, no matter what the alternative was but he figured he should continue to play along. At least until he could get free of his restraints. “I'm flattered Goby. I would be delighted to work alongside Doc Oc.” Peter switched his attention to Doctor Octavius. “Those mechanical arms of yours, they're really cool. I'd love to get a better look at them. What other things have you made? Are you the brain behind Goby’s gadgets? Or are you an inventive genius as well, Goby?” Peter looked back at the Green Goblin, was his show of enthusiasm having any effect?

 

“Excellent, we’re glad to have you aboard.” smiled the Green Goblin. “I'm sure you are anxious to get started, little spider but I'm afraid you must remain restrained for a little longer. Dr. Octavius let us withdraw to discuss precautions”

 

Peter sagged in his restraints as the two walked away from him. He had been sure the Goblin was going to release him and now he didn't know what was going on. What precautions were they talking about?

 

A few minutes later Dr. Octavius returned alone. He started to free Spider-Man, talking quietly all the while. “Young genius, the future of the industry, a brilliant mind. They said all those things about me once. Then the accident happened and no one wanted me anymore. No one except  **him** but what he wanted was more than I was willing to give. You'll find out, my spider. You'll find it's not all it's cracked up to be but I left you an out, if you can find it.” The troubled genius then gave Peter his web-slingers back and disappeared into another part of the large room.

 

Peter quickly slipped on his web-slingers before the Green Goblin returned to show Peter the lab. As Peter examined the various projects on the go his misgivings were confirmed. Most of the projects were various kinds of weapons in various stages of design. It was clear that the Green Goblin was not attempting to stop the manufacture of weaponry, instead he was engaged in trying to corner the market. Spider-Man looked for his chance to escape chattering all the while about how impressive he found the whole set up.

 

Then Peter saw it. A vent cover on the ceiling was hanging loose, well above their heads but still within reach of Dr. Octavius’s mechanical arms. He wandered over towards the area of the lab under the open vent pretending to be interested in the work in progress that was there. Once he was in position he shot a line to the ceiling beside the vent and quickly pulled himself up it and scrambled into the vent. He called back down to the Green Goblin “Sorry Goby, you're offer was really tempting but the people of New York need me.” He heard the Goblin scream in rage as he disappeared from sight.

 

When Spider-Man finally reached open air he emerged very cautiously but  there was no sign of the Goblin. He still didn't relax as he swung away. He knew the Green Goblin could show up at any moment and he couldn't count on his spider sense to alert him. He didn't know how they had done it but it obviously had been the Green Goblin and Doc Oc behind both instances of his spider sense failing him. Which meant that the Goblin was behind the increased crime and possibly the media smear campaign as well.

 

Peter sighed in relief. There was a police officer on the corner ahead of him. He wasn't on friendly terms with all of the police but they were definitely an improvement on the Green Goblin. Spider-Man swung down to the pavement in front of the officer. “Am I glad to see one of New York's finest! I need to get in touch with Captain Stacy immediately. It is a matter of utmost urgency.”

 

Shortly Spider-Man was in a police car on his way to Captain Stacy. When he got there Stacy immediately ushered Peter into his office and closed the door. “Am I glad to see you in one piece, Peter. Are you ok?” Stacy asked anxiously. When Peter assured the Captain that he was fine, Stacy went on. “I was never so worried in my life as when you disappeared tonight. When the patrol car I sent to check out your cell signal found your phone on a rooftop with you nowhere in sight I feared the worst. What happened?”

 

Peter told Captain Stacy about the events of that night. “Green Goblin must have a way to block my spider sense so that he can sneak up on me. I can't just stop being Spider-Man so I need to figure out a way to deal with him.”

 

“Do you have any idea where the Goblin was keeping you?”

 

“Unfortunately, no. I was unconscious when he brought me in and when I escaped I was too intent on getting out of there and finding help to notice where I was.”

 

“Too bad. I'm sure he will try something again so we need to make sure you are safe. For now I would suggest you take a break from patrolling.”

 

“I think I will take a break for a few days but I can't just stop being Spider-Man. What if you have a better way to track me? I can build a tracking device which should be powerful enough to enable you to find me in Goby’s lair if he grabs me again.” Peter brightened up. Plans began forming for the device he had just mentioned. It shouldn't take too long to design and build and then he would have backup.

 

“That should work if you can build a tracking device like that. I don't want you out as Spider-Man until you get it built mind you,” said Captain Stacy. “Now let's get you home.”

 

Over the next few days Peter worked on his tracking device whenever he wasn't at school. He wanted to get it finished quickly so he could go back out on patrol. He really missed being Spider-Man and the satisfaction he got from helping people.


	6. Harry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is Harry's best friend but Spider-Man has ruined his life.

Harry arrived at the condo Friday afternoon to find it empty as usual. He frowned at his thoughts,  _ Dad is never home, but maybe it's just as well. He's always yelling at me when he’s here. I can't do anything right anymore. _ Things had been better for a while when Harry started to bring his marks up. Norman had even seemed proud of his son but then that all changed again. Harry gave up on his thoughts and pulled out a bottle of wine. He was going to get good and drunk to celebrate the beginning of the weekend.

 

Harry had finished that bottle and started on another one when Norman arrived home. “Dad, what are you doing home. I wasn't expecting you.” Harry slurred.

 

“That's obvious. How long has this been going on?” Norman demanded.

 

“Since I got home from school.”

 

“No! How long have you been drinking like this after school?”

 

“I don’ know. Awhile. Helps pass the time, not so lonely you know.”

 

“You've been drinking yourself into oblivion every afternoon for ‘a while’? Do you realize how disgusting you are?”

 

“No’ every afternoon. Us'lly wait till bedtime. Helps me sleep but t’days the weekend, time to party.”

 

“I'm surprised you can get out of bed in the morning.”

 

“Ah, that's my secret. Got m'self a little pick me up. Gets me moving and helps me to do better at school, too. Just makes it hard to sleep you know so a little drink before bed.” Harry hoisted the wine bottle he was drinking from.

 

Norman glared at his son. “You are a disgrace! I'm ashamed to have you as a son! You are doing this deliberately aren't you? This is all to discredit me and make me vulnerable to my enemies isn't it?” Norman loomed over Harry sprawled on the couch. “Answer me!” he screamed. “Did Peter put you up to this!”

 

Harry stared up at his father in astonishment. “Pete? He has nothing to do with this. He’s made it pretty clear that he doesn't approve of my drinking.”

 

“So he knew about the way you've behaving and never said anything to me. I knew he was out to get me. It's all part of his plot to destroy me.” Norman paced around the living room before turning his attention back to Harry. “And you! You are aiding him in his plan! I don't care if it's deliberate or if you're merely his dup but I won't have it. Stay away from Peter Parker from now on!”

 

Harry jerked upright, suddenly angry. “Stay away from Pete? I can't do that! He's always been there for me when I needed him! Which is more than you have done!”

 

“You do as I say or you leave this house! I'm trying to protect the Osborne interests. Interests which Peter is bent on destroying! There is a lot more at stake here than you realize.”

 

“Are you even listening to yourself, Dad? How can you say those things about Pete? He's the most decent person I know!” Harry was on his feet now staring at his father in confusion.

 

“So you’re going to take his side against me! You would defend him to me when I've told you he is trying to destroy me! Out of my house!” Norman opened the door and grabbed Harry, shoving him outside.

 

Harry stared at the door in confusion. He had no idea what had just happened and he was too drunk to deal with it. He checked his pockets. He didn't have any coke on him but he did have some money. Maybe once his dealer fixed him up with a hit he could figure out what to do.

 

Later that night Peter got a phone call. “Pete, this is Harry. I need help.”

 

“What's wrong?”

 

“I'm in jail. I was buying more coke from my dealer and we got caught in a drug bust. I need you to bail me out.”

 

“You’re in jail? Harry you need to call your dad. He needs to know about this.”

 

“Dad will kill me. He just threw me out of the house because of my drinking. I can't tell him about this.”

 

“Your Dad threw you out of the house? Uncle Ben and I will be right there, Harry”

 

Peter got off the phone and went to tell Aunt May and Uncle Ben what was going on. Of course Uncle Ben agreed to go with Peter to the police station right away. When they got there they found that someone had called Mr. Osborne and he was on his way. They were allowed in to see Harry while he waited for his father to arrive.

 

Harry was upset about Norman being called. “You didn't hear him earlier, Pete. He was furious over my drinking, he's going to be even more upset when he finds out about the drugs. I don't know what else he can do to me and I don't want to find out.” Peter was trying to calm Harry down when Norman Osborne arrived.

 

“OK Harry, they will drop the charges on the condition that you go into a detox program. I called the best place in the city and made arrangements for you to be admitted immediately.” Norman spoke briskly as he waited for Harry to be released to him. As soon as Harry was released Norman took him by the arm and led him away. He stopped just before he got to the door and looked back at the other two. “As for you Peter Parker, stay away from my son. I know what you are up to and I won't let you get away with it.”

 

Peter stopped in at Captain Stacy’s office on his way out of the building to drop off the receiver for his tracking device. He had finished it before Harry called and sewn the tracker into his costume so he could always be found as long as his costume was on. Spider-Man was going back on patrol.

 

Over the next month, nothing much happened. Peter couldn't visit Harry in rehab because Norman had told the rehab facility to keep him out, so MJ and Gwen visited him occasionally and let Peter know how he was doing. They reported that Norman was visiting Harry regularly and that the father and son seemed to be getting along again. Peter was glad to hear this. The distance between Harry and his dad had always bothered him.

 

Peter was back to regularly patrolling as Spider-Man. He encountered the usual run of criminals but there was no sign of the Green Goblin. This was a relief to Peter but he knew better than to let his guard down. He was sure that the Goblin wasn't finished with him yet. In the meantime Flash had very little patching up to do and the rumours about the two boys started to die down. It helped that Flash had started to date Liz Allen, who was also a big Spider-Man fan.

 

About a week before Harry was due to be released from rehab, Norman Osborne surprised the Parker’s by coming to visit them. He was full of apologies for his earlier behaviour. “I was so worried about Harry that I wasn't thinking straight. I know Peter has always been a good friend to Harry and I would like you all to come to a little dinner I'm hosting to welcome Harry home. Flash, you are included in the invitation as well. I am also planning to invite MJ Watson and Gwen Stacy and her father. I really appreciate all that you all have done for Harry.” After getting their promises that they would come he left again, obviously pleased.

 

On the afternoon of the party, Spider-Man went out on patrol after school. He had heard rumors of a riot being planned by a political group and he was determined to help prevent injuries to the innocent bystanders caught up in it. He was going to watch the time though. He didn't want to miss Harry’s welcome home dinner.

 

When Spider-Man got the spot where the rumor had indicated the riot would be he saw nothing out if the ordinary. He was just wondering if he should wait for a while to see if anything happened when he started to black out. Once again he felt himself being grabbed by a pair of strong arms as he lost consciousness.

 

As he had expected Peter found himself bound to the same chair in the Goblin’s secret lab as before. This time though there was no Doc Oc, just a very angry Goblin. “Hey Goby, what is it this time? I thought I made it clear I wasn't interested in working for you. Did you miss me?” Peter desperately hoped that his tracking device was working as he tried to cover up his fear with chatter.

 

“Silence!” roared the Green Goblin as he backhanded Peter across the face. Peter’s head rocked back and he tasted blood. “Enough of your insolent chatter! I know what you are up to! Do not think that you have me fooled!”

 

“Well maybe you can fill me in on it. I'm completely lost here. What do you think I'm up to Goby?” Peter was terrified but he couldn't remain silent.

 

The Green Goblin hit him again. “I said silence! I know who you are, Peter Parker,” he hissed. “Did you think you could fool me when it was my experiment that gave you your powers.”

 

“You're experiment? But that means that you’re…” Peter couldn't believe it. The Green Goblin was his best friend’s father? That couldn’t be true.

 

“Don't pretend you didn't know,” sneared Osborne as he removed his mask. “You tried to destroy me, using Harry as your tool, in revenge for Green Goblin defeating you. I am aware of your plans Peter Parker. You were trying to destroy me so now I will destroy you!” Norman Osborne pulled out a hypodermic needle and injected Peter with it. “That was a neurotoxin fatal to both humans and spiders. You will be paralyzed shortly but it will take you awhile to die. You can spend your last remaining moments thinking about the party you are missing.” He released Peter from the restraints and allowed him to fall to the floor.

 

“Lie there little spider and think of your friends and family waiting for me now at my condo, unaware of the fate that awaits them. Instead of Norman Osborne it will be the Green Goblin who will host their party. They will be dead before you, little spider, and there is nothing you can do to save them.” Norman looked pulled his mask back on. “It is time for me to greet my guests. Goodbye spider.” He flew away on his glider.

 

Peter tried to move but he couldn't, he could barely breath and he could feel himself getting weaker all the time. Inside he was screaming! Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Gwen, MJ and Flash, they were all in danger and he couldn't even move!

 

Doctor Octavius looked down at the paralyzed superhero. “So Osborne is on his way to destroy all that you hold dear. That hurts doesn’t it, Spider-Man. I bet you would do anything to stop him wouldn’t you? Well, I will help you if you help me. I of course have an antidote to the neurotoxin Osborne used on you, since I created it for him. It will halt the effect of the poison temporarily, relieving the paralysis for a while. I don’t know whether your healing ability will be able to repair the damage and flush out the toxin fast enough to save you before the antidote wears off or not and I don’t really care. It should buy you enough time to destroy Osborne.” Doctor Octavius gave Spider-Man the second injection and Peter found himself able to move again although he still felt weak. “Here are your web-slingers back. Make good use of them.” Doctor Octavius left Peter and disappeared again.

 

Peter heaved himself off of the floor and donned his web-slingers. He quickly ran through the lab in the direction that the Goblin had gone in. He found the exit and emerged from the underground lab, this time noting its location. He knew where the Green Goblin was headed and he had to get there first! Spider-Man spun his web and swung through the city, faster than he had ever dared to go before. As he swung he could feel the damage the toxin had already done, he knew he had to stop the Goblin before he collapsed again.

 

Spider-Man reached the Osborne’s building just in time to see the Green Goblin hover on the street outside the condo. The Goblin pulled a bomb from his pack and readied it to throw through the window before him. Peter tried to use his web slinger to pull the bomb from the Goblin’s hand but he was out of web fluid. He had no time to think of anything else. He ran to the edge of the roof of the building that he was standing on and launched himself at the Green Goblin with as much strength as he could muster. He knocked the Goblin off of his glider and carried him to the wall of the building across the street. Peter clung to the wall while trying to keep ahold of the Goblin who was fighting his grasp. Slowly Peter dragged himself up the side of the building as he felt his strength begin to fail.

 

Just as he got to the top the Green Goblin pulled out his boomerang and dug it into the back of the Peter’s hand. The boy’s grip failed and the Goblin plummeted to the ground, cursing Spider-Man all the way down. Spidey hauled himself onto the roof of the building and looked down in horror. There was no way that Norman Osborne could have survived the fall onto the street below.  _ Harry’s father is dead and it is all my fault,  _ was Peter’s last thought before he succumbed to unconsciousness.

 

Harry was on the street below, at the entrance to the building, where he was watching for his father to arrive. He had watched the battle between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man until the Goblin fell to the ground almost at his feet. As the Goblin lay there, Harry saw his father’s face beneath the mask that had been dislodged in the fall. His father was dead! His father was dead and it was all Spider-Man’s fault! Harry vowed to himself that he would never forgive Spider-Man. He knew what the superhero could do. He should have been able to stop the Green Goblin without hurting him and instead he decided to use some flashy move that went wrong and killed him. As Harry knelt at his father’s side he felt someone come up behind him. Captain Stacy knelt and checked the body for any vital signs and then wrapped his arm around Harry and stayed with him until the body of Norman Osborne was taken away. He then brought the boy back inside.

 

While Captain Stacy was checking that the Green Goblin was indeed dead and comforting Harry the other dinner guests had rushed to the roof to find Spider-Man unconscious. Flash and Uncle Ben were checking him over when, to their relief he groaned and opened his eyes. “Flash, Uncle Ben, you’re all right! Aunt May, Gwen, MJ?” Uncle Ben helped Peter sit up so that he could see the three woman standing behind him. Peter sagged in relief and then asked worriedly, “Captain Stacy, is he all right too?”

 

“He’s fine Peter,” Uncle Ben reassured him. “He went to check on Harry and find out what had happened to the Green Goblin.”

 

“Harry, he was here? He saw what happened? I need to go to him. I need to explain...” Peter struggled to stand up, only to collapse again.

 

“Hold on there. You’re not going anywhere except to bed. Flash, help me with him.” Uncle Ben and Flash lifted Peter to his feet and supported him to the entrance to the building. “If we can get him to the elevator it isn’t far to the car from there. Do you have his clothes, Flash?” Uncle Ben asked.

 

“Right here in this bag. Here Peter let’s get your mask off and get you dressed. We don’t want to attract attention on the way to the car.” Flash and Uncle Ben helped Peter pull his clothes on over his suit and continued to help him, followed closely by the three woman.

 

“Aunt May, please go to Harry. He needs someone, the Green Goblin… he was Mr. Osborne. Harry probably knows by now if he was with Captain Stacy when he checked on the body.” Peter looked pleadingly at his Aunt. He could not bear to think of Harry alone at this time. He knew his Aunt could help him.

 

“Of course, Peter. You will let me know how he is doing. Especially if there is any change, Ben.” Aunt May left to go to Harry’s condo where she met him and Captain Stacy coming up from the street. Aunt May could see that Peter was right, Harry knew that his father was dead. “I’m so sorry, Harry,” she said as she gave the boy a hug.

 

Harry looked at her. “Is Pete here? He said he would always be there for me and I would like him to be here,” he said simply.

 

“Peter isn’t feeling well so he sent me to come to stay with you until he can be here himself.” May responded.

 

“That’s good. I know I can count on Pete. I think I should go to bed now. Will you stay here tonight? I don’t want to be alone.”

 

“Of course Harry. I’ll be right here in your guest room if you need me.” May checked on Harry after he was in bed to sit beside him and hold his hand as he cried himself to sleep. It seemed that she had another boy to care for now and she would do her best to be there for him as he grieved.

 

The next morning Peter woke up in his own bed to find Flash sleeping in a chair beside the bed. “Hey Flash, you’re going to have a really sore neck sleeping like that. You might want to try this amazing thing called a bed.”

 

Flash woke up. “Peter! How are you feeling?”

 

“I feel fine now. I must of looked pretty bad last night to have you sleeping there.”

 

“You did. Uncle Ben was sitting up with you but I made him go to bed. He’s an old man he needs his sleep.”

 

Peter laughed. “You’d better not let him hear you say that. I’m surprised he let you send him to bed. He’s been working nights for years, he probably is a lot better at staying up all night than you are.”

 

“You’re probably right but I couldn’t go to bed not knowing whether you were going to be ok. So I figured that at least one of us should get some sleep. I’m glad you’re ok. I was pretty worried.”

 

“How’s Harry? Did Aunt May stay with him.”

 

“She did. You were pretty insistent about it. She phoned to check on you last night after Harry was asleep. She said he was in pretty rough shape. He apparently was asking for you.”

 

Peter sprang from bed. “I’d better get over there. Harry will need me and I need to explain what happened.”

 

Flash frowned. “Hold on, you can’t do that! He doesn’t know that you’re Spider-Man right? And he’s got to be feeling pretty pissed off at Spidey right now. What do you think it’s going to do to him to find that out now? He needs Peter Parker his friend right now, not Spider-Man.”

 

Peter grew thoughtful. “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking about that. It’s going to be hard, though. I mean I’m going to be comforting Harry on the death of his father when I’m the one who killed him and he doesn’t know it. It just doesn’t feel right, you know, but you’re right that I can’t tell him now. Even so, I had better go to him.”

 

“At least eat something first. I will go get some breakfast together while you get dressed.” Flash left the room as Peter got dressed for the day. For once leaving off the Spider-Man suit. He then carefully covered up the remnants of the bruises from the day before.

 

Soon Peter was knocking on the door of the Osborne condo. “How is he?” asked Peter, when Aunt May opened the door.

 

“He is still sleeping. He was in shock last night, it will hit him really hard when he wakes up this morning, I think. It’s a good thing that you’re here.” Then she added, “And I’m glad to see you are feeling better this morning yourself. You were pretty sick last night.”

 

Peter smiled at her, “I’m fine Aunt May. I just needed a good night's sleep. Thank you for staying with Harry for me.” Aunt May gave Peter a hug and then they both looked over at a shout from Harry’s room.

 

“Pete! I’m glad you’re here.” Harry came out of his room as he spoke. Peter was shocked. His friend looked awful. He quickly crossed the room to bring Harry to the table and make him sit down.

 

“You had better have some breakfast, Harry. I know you didn’t have any supper last night and Aunt May makes a mean pancake.”

 

“I don’t know if I can eat anything, Pete. I don’t feel hungry at all. I just can’t believe it. Dad’s dead.” He looked at Peter. “I saw him die, Pete. I saw Spider-Man drop him from the top of the building. I didn’t even know it was Dad until his mask came off when he hit the ground. I don’t know what was going on but Spider-Man killed my father!”

 

Peter flinched. He hadn’t realized that Harry had witnessed the whole thing. This was going to be harder than he thought. “I didn't know you saw him die. That must be really hard to deal with,” Peter said. “I can't make that go away but I will be here for you as much as I can.”

 

Harry smiled wanly at him. “I know. You've always been there for me when I needed you. Even when I've been a shitty friend to you.”

 

“Pancakes are ready,” said Aunt May as she put the plate on the table. Peter turned to the task of getting Harry to eat with relief. After Harry had eaten enough to satisfy her, Aunt May left to go back home and Peter stayed with Harry. They spent the rest of the morning sitting in front of the tv, although neither of them was really paying attention to what was on. Until the news came on with a report on the fight between Green Goblin and Spider-Man. Peter quickly picked up the remote to change the channel but Harry stopped him.

 

After showing a cell phone video of Spider-Man attacking the Green Goblin and his fall to the street below the announcer said. “Yesterday the Green Goblin, who was wanted by the police on charges of bank robbery and kidnapping, was killed by Spider-Man after he threatened the lives of a group of New York citizens at the home of billionaire industrialist Norman Osborne. In a shocking revelation it was discovered after his death that the Green Goblin was Norman Osborne himself. There are rumours that Spider-Man may have been working with Norman Osborne and the battle we just witnessed was a falling out between the two allies.”

 

Harry then turned off the tv. “I still don’t get it. Why would Dad dress up as a Goblin and break into a bank or kidnap someone. He was a businessman not a super villain. Who is he supposed to have kidnapped anyway? I think Spider-Man set him up somehow. It’s the only explanation. He set my Dad up to look like some sort of super villain so he could murder him and get away with it.”

 

“Maybe you should talk to Captain Stacy? He was here yesterday wasn’t he? He should be able to give you some more information about why they think your dad did those things, at least. Maybe he can tell you something about Spider-Man as well. Gwen said that he had met Spider-Man before. I don’t think Spider-Man was trying to kill your dad, after all he’s stopped a lot of crooks without killing any of them. I think that was an accident. Spider-Man looked like he was in pretty bad shape in that footage.” Peter hoped that at least some of what he said would sink in. It was going to be pretty uncomfortable if Harry kept thinking like that about Spider-Man.  _ Of course I deserve to be uncomfortable. I was responsible for his dad’s death.  _ Peter reflected, guiltily.

 

Before Harry could respond to Peter, Aunt May and Uncle Ben arrived with lunch. “Eat up boys. Flash prepared it specially for you and he will be pretty upset if you don’t eat it,” Aunt May said.

 

“Flash made it? I don’t know if I dare eat it. You sure he knows how to cook?” Harry joked.

 

Peter replied, “He’s a pretty good cook. Just try some.”

 

After he started on the food, Harry had to agree that Flash was a talented cook. While the two boys ate, Uncle Ben told them that the Osborne’s lawyer was going to come over to talk to Harry after lunch. “He said he wanted May and I here as well. I’m not sure why but I guess we will find out.”

 

Shortly after Peter had finished cleaning up from lunch, the lawyer, Mr. Brown, arrived. He told Harry that while there was a lot of details to work out as the will went through probate, there were two things that needed to be dealt with immediately. “For starters, Harry, your father named you as his sole heir and left instructions for a trust fund to be set up for you if he died before you reached your majority. I am named as the trustee for this fund and I will do my best to administer it wisely for you. There will be a sufficient allowance given to you and all necessary expenses will be paid from the fund. Your father also named May and Ben Parker as your guardians in his will.” He turned to address Harry’s new guardians. “The trust fund is set up so that you will have no access to Harry’s money except through me. I will have to approve any expenditure made on his behalf. That being said I will have no problem approving any reasonable expense relating to Harry’s care. If you refuse to accept this charge then Harry will become a ward of the state and the courts will assign a guardian to him, until he turns 18.”

 

Aunt May spoke up from where she was sitting beside Harry. “Of course we accept. As long as Harry agrees.”

 

“Very good. Then comes the matter of housing. I understand that you have four people living in a small three bedroom apartment currently. That will not be acceptable for Harry. You will need new accommodations,” Mr. Brown stated.

 

“Why don’t they all come live here? There’s plenty of room. Aunt May and Uncle Ben can have Dad’s room and Peter and Flash can take the two spare rooms.”

 

“That would be acceptable, Harry. Would you like to go through your father’s things or shall I take care of them for you?”

 

Harry turned pale. “I don’t know,” he faltered.

 

“Why don’t you have Mr. Brown have your father’s things put into storage until you are ready to think about what you would like done with them?” suggested Uncle Ben.

 

Harry smiled in relief. “That sound like a good idea. Can you do that for me, please?” He turned to Mr. Brown.

 

“Of course, Harry. This is a difficult time for you and I will do my best to make this as easy as possible. Why don’t you go out with your friends for the afternoon while I take care of things here and get the condo ready for its new occupants.” Mr. Brown then pulled out his phone and started making arrangements.

 

Harry and Peter went to see Captain Stacy who was off shift and at home. Meanwhile, Aunt May and Uncle Ben went to tell Flash what was going on and to start packing. Mr. Brown had given them the number of a moving company that would move them into the condo when everything was ready for them.

 

“So, you're telling me that the only evidence that you have of the Green Goblin’s supposed crimes is Spider-Man’s word?” Harry was talking to Captain Stacy but it wasn't going as well as Peter hoped.

 

“That's right. We checked the bank's security cameras but they appeared to have been hacked on the night in question. You can takes Spider-Man’s word for it, though. He is very trustworthy.” Captain Stacy looked at Peter as he spoke and Peter shook his head frantically behind Harry's back. He wasn't ready for Harry to find out who Spider-Man was.

 

“Trustworthy? A masked vigilante? Does anyone even know who he is?” The silence in the room that followed that question was deafening.

 

Captain Stacy finally spoke up, “Spider-Man has very good reasons for keeping his identity secret and I agree with them. Anyways, you are right. We don't have any hard evidence of the Green Goblin’s earlier crimes nor can we be sure if it was your father playing the part of the Green Goblin during those incidents. However, whatever his motivations were, it was definitely Norman Osborne behind the mask yesterday. We also have several eyewitnesses and some video of him threatening our dinner party with a bomb. I am sorry for your loss, Harry and I realize that this is a hard thing to deal with. I wish I had more answers for you.”

 

Harry looked at Captain Stacy through red rimmed eyes. Suddenly it was all too much for him. No one could tell him why his father was behaving so strangely and they all seemed intent on defending the man who had killed him. He turned to Peter. “I need to go home, Pete. Take me home, please.”

 

“Of course, Harry. Let's go.” Peter and Harry returned to the condo. It was quiet when they got there and Harry stopped to look through the open door into what had been Norman Osborne’s bedroom. Mr. Brown had worked fast. The room was empty and ready for Aunt May and Uncle Ben to move in.

 

Harry slowly walked into the room and looked around. All traces of his father were gone. He sat down on the bed and began to cry. His father was gone and now he would never have the chance to make him proud, to finally get close to him. Peter sat beside Harry and held him as he cried. 

 

As he sat with Harry, Peter was overwhelmed with guilt. It was his fault that Harry had lost his father. He should have been able to stop the Green Goblin in some other way. If only he had been faster, or if he had refilled his web fluid more frequently so he didn't run out. Mostly he blamed himself for not being able to hang on any longer. He was so close to the top of the building when he lost his grip, he should have been able to make it. But he couldn't dwell on that now. He needed to be there for Harry.

 

Eventually, Harry cried himself to sleep again. Peter gently lifted his friend in his arms and carried him to his own bed. As he was tucking Harry in, Aunt May arrived with their supper. “We’re in here Aunt May,” Peter responded to here greeting. “Harry just fell asleep.”

 

May came into the room and softly kissed the sleeping boy. “We’ll let him sleep then. It’s what he needs right now.” She then turned to her nephew with concern in her eyes. “How are you doing Peter? This must be really hard for you.”

 

“It is hard, Aunt May. I feel so guilty. It feels wrong to be comforting Harry when he doesn't know the part I played in his father’s death. He’d hate me if he knew.”

 

“All the more reason not to tell him. Harry needs all his friends right now, especially you.”

 

Aunt May embraced Peter. He clung to her as he finally was able to release the tears that had built up over the day. He had been holding it together for Harry’s sake but now he could let go.

 

Aunt May stayed with Harry for the night again while Peter went to see Captain Stacy. He hadn't had a chance to find out anything about the aftermath from the night before and he needed to let the Captain know what had happened.

 

After Peter told him about the events in the lab, Captain Stacy informed him that they were able to locate the lab using the information from his tracking device. “I'm sorry that I didn't even realize you were in danger. It wasn't until Ben and May arrived without you that I even knew you had been out as Spider-Man and everything happened very quickly after that. Anyways, when we found the lab it was as you described but there was no sign of Dr. Octavius. It looked like he had cleared out of there in a hurry. We will be looking for him but I doubt we will find him.”

 

“Mr. Osborne had obviously planned everything very carefully,” responded Peter “Probably with the help of Doc Oc. I'm sure he was responsible for the rumour that lured me out as Spider-Man. He then apparently used my cell phone to send Uncle Ben a text saying that I would meet them at the party and to please bring my clothes. So nobody had any reason to suspect I was in trouble until it was too late. In the future I will let you know if I'm going to be Spider-Man outside of my usual patrol times.”

 

“That would be a good idea. Backup can't help you unless they know they're going to be needed.” Captain Stacy then looked carefully at Peter. “How are you doing, son. You almost died and only narrowly saved the lives of your friends and family. You also had someone die because of your actions.” Stacy then hastened to add. “Although his death wasn't your fault. It was his own actions that killed him. That’s a lot to deal with.”

 

“I'll be ok. I have an appointment to see Dr. Grace on Monday. I can talk to her about it.”

 

“I'm glad to hear that. You can also talk to me about it whenever you need to.”

 

Peter thanked the Captain and then headed for home. He had some stuff to pack up in preparation for the move the next day.

 

Uncle Ben woke the two boys up early Sunday morning so that they could have breakfast and finish the last of the packing before the movers arrived. After they ate, Uncle Ben and Flash cleaned up and packed while Peter moved all the furniture that was going to be put into storage together into one room. The movers arrived just as he was finishing and Peter and Flash headed off to the condo while Uncle Ben stayed to direct the movers.

 

The movers didn’t take long to pack up the boxes and arrive at the condo and once they got there the rest of the day was busy. Harry was glad of this because it kept him from thinking. He was able to keep himself busy bringing boxes to people to unpack and helping them decide where things should go. As a result he actually had an appetite for supper and fell asleep quickly afterwards. It felt good to have the condo full of life after all the times he had spent there alone.


	7. Aftermath and Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has to tell Harry about being Spider-Man. This isn't going to be easy.

Monday morning Peter stood in front of the door to Dr. Grace’s office. He wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do but he didn’t see that he had any other choice. When he went to put on his Spider-Man suit he found that he couldn’t do it. Even though Aunt May had cleaned and mended it so that there were no visible traces of the events of Friday afternoon on it, he couldn’t look at it without thinking of Norman Osborne slipping from his grasp and falling to the street below. All the guilt and sorrow that he felt for the death of Harry’s father returned full force and to add to it he remembered how scared and desperate he felt at the time. He didn’t want to give up being Spider-Man but he obviously was going to need some help first so his only option was to go to his appointment as Peter Parker. He took a deep breath and walked in the door.

 

Dr. Grace was busy at her desk when she heard the door open, “Right on time, come on in…” She stopped as she looked up and saw a unfamiliar teenage boy standing at the door. “Can I help you?” she asked.

 

“Um.. My name is Peter Parker, Uh, I’m here for my appointment...” Peter trailed off.

 

Dr. Grace sat a little straighter in her chair. “Oh, you’re Spider-Man. Come in and sit down. I understand that you had a very eventful day on Friday and I’m sure you need to talk about it. Do the events on Friday have anything to do with the reason you have come here as Peter instead of Spider-Man?”

 

Peter nodded as he sat down across from Dr. Grace and started to tell her about everything that had happened on Friday and how he felt about it all. Looking at her, listening intently to what he had to say he relaxed. Dr. Grace was going to help him and he would be Spider-Man again one day, when he was ready.

 

********************

 

As time passed both Peter and Harry started to recover from the immediate trauma of the death of Norman Osborne. Peter continued to see Dr. Grace and Harry was seeing a grief counselor hired by Mr. Brown who was helping him sort out his feelings about his father and his father’s death. Harry hadn’t felt up to going to school for the first week and Peter had begged to be allowed to stay with him but by the second week both of them were attending school again. Harry struggled to concentrate on his school work but Peter helped him as much as he could and the school cut him a lot of slack so his grades didn’t drop. Everything seemed to be getting better but underneath it all Harry was still eaten up by anger at Spider-Man. Peter was the audience for most of his rants on the subject and everytime Harry raged about Spider-Man the more determined Peter was to tell him the truth. He just needed the right opportunity.

 

One day the opportunity he was looking for came. The boys had a day off of school and Uncle Ben had decided to take Flash shopping since he needed some new clothes. Aunt May had a Yoga class to teach so Peter and Harry were alone in the apartment. Peter went into his room to put on his Spider-Man suit, except for the mask and then had gone into the living room where Harry was watching tv.

 

“Harry, there’s something I have to tell you.” Peter waited for Harry to look at him.

 

“What is it Pete.” Harry looked up at Peter and frowned. “Why are you wearing that. You know how much I hate Spider-Man.”

 

Peter took a deep breath. “I am Spider-Man, Harry.”

 

“That’s not funny.” Harry said flatly and then stared in surprise at Peter who was now hanging from the ceiling by his fingertips. Peter dropped back down to the floor and donned his mask. He waited for Harry’s reaction.

 

“You are Spider-Man!” Harry cried angrily and then he attacked. Peter stood still and let Harry hit him again and again. He knew he could take it and he felt he deserved the pain. It was his fault Harry was suffering so much, the least he could do was give him a target for his anger. “Why won't you fight back? You’re not even defending yourself!” Harry panted as he stepped back again to catch his breath.

 

“Because, you're right.” Spider-Man replied through his tears. “I am responsible for your dad’s death. If I was better at being a superhero, more prepared, he wouldn't have died. If I had been able to hold on just a little bit longer.” Peter pulled of his mask to reveal his battered and tearstained face. “I still don't know how I lost my grip on him. I mean I stick to things. I shouldn't have been  **able** to drop him.

 

The sheer anguish in his friends voice got through to Harry and he dropped his fists. “What happened Pete? How did my Dad end up in a stupid costume threatening his dinner guests with a bomb? I just can't understand what happened.”

 

“I can show you what I found, if you'll trust me.” Peter walked out into the balcony and turned back to Harry.

 

Harry followed him outside. “I guess if I want answers I’ll have to trust you. I know I can't live like this anymore.”

 

Peter replaced his mask and hoisted Harry onto his back. Then he swung away across the city to Norman Osborne’s secret lab.

 

“Where are we?” asked Harry as Peter led him inside.

 

“This is one of your dad’s lab. It’s apparently where he worked on projects that weren't quite legal or things that he was trying to protect from industrial espionage. From what I've seen it was mostly weapons research. He had a Dr. Octavius working for him here but the he seems to have disappeared.”

 

“Dr. Octavius, I thought he was dead? Dad told me that he died in the lab explosion a couple of years ago. I remember him because he had made himself these mechanical arms that he wore on a harness around his waist.” Harry commented.

 

“It’s definitely the same guy then. There can't be two men named Dr. Octavius with mechanical arms running around. It's no wonder the police can't find anything about him if he’s supposed to be dead.”

 

The two teens entered the lab and Peter went over to one of the computers. “I found a file called the Goblin formula which I think you should see. After you've read it I can show you the footage from the two times I've been in this lab. I'm not sure why but they recorded the whole thing both times.”

 

Harry sat down to read about his father's quest to develop a formula for enhancing strength and healing. “It says here that they did some early experiments with a spider and it bit someone while it was at the main Oscorp labs. Is that…” He looked up at Peter.

 

“That would be the spider that bit me and gave me my powers. I don't really understand what they were trying to do with it but that does explain how your dad figured out that I was Spider-Man.”

 

Harry continued to read. “So you are the person that the first blood sample came from? How did Dad get a blood sample from you?”

 

“As far as I can figure it was when his watch ‘scratched’ me that day at your place. You remember he left again for the night and you stayed over at my place.”

 

Harry nodded. “Then it looks like they got a sample from Spider-Man to cross match. Dad doesn't seem to mention your name anywhere.”

 

“Yes, that was a big relief. I’d rather not have Doc Oc know who I really am. I think the Spider-Man blood sample came from a gang fight that I broke up. Doc Oc must have set it up for the purpose. That's what led to Flash figuring out that I was Spider-Man.”

 

“Wait! Flash knows? Who else knows who you are?”

 

“Well, I told Aunt May and Uncle Ben right away. Aunt May made my suit. Flash and MJ figured it out on their own and then I told Gwen after MJ told me off for not telling her. Gwen’s dad figured it out after I had a panic attack as Spider-Man and took my mask off in his house. Oh and my therapist knows.”

 

“I didn't know you were seeing a therapist.”

 

“Well, I couldn't exactly tell you I was seeing a trauma counselor to deal with the stress of being a superhero could I? Captain Stacy actually recommended her to Spider-Man before he found out who I was.”

 

“Yeah, I guess not.” Harry turned his attention back to the computer screen. “Doc Oc used the blood samples to create the goblin formula and then Dad decided to use it on himself when testing was complete. I can see him doing that. Dad hated being bested by anyone. He would love the idea of being superhuman. This doesn't really explain what happened though.”

 

“Watch the videos. They don't explain everything but at least you can see what happened.”

 

Harry watched the videos in silence. In the first one the Green Goblin did sound like his Dad when he was trying to persuade someone to do something. Harry had seen him like that a lot. He had never thought that his father would kidnap someone to try to get his way but now that he was presented with the evidence he found it all too easy to believe. The second video made no sense. The Green Goblin didn't really sound like his Dad at all. If he hadn't taken off his mask Harry wouldn't have believed it was him. Still there was something familiar about the way he was behaving. “Dad was talking like that the night I was arrested! Remember I told you he had kicked me out of the house for drinking? Well he was going on about you plotting to destroy him and ordered me to stay away from you! That's why he kicked me out, because I wouldn't agree with him.”

 

“It’s pretty clear that your father was becoming increasingly paranoid. The only thing is I don't understand why.” Peter’s spider sense suddenly flared. “Look out Harry!” Peter grabbed his friend and threw him out of the way.

 

Harry saw Dr. Octavius hit Spider-Man with a mechanical arm flinging him across the room. Spidey landed on the wall and called to him. “Hey Doc Oc! What was that for I thought we were friends.”

 

“Don't call me that!” Doc Oc screeched. “You were only a pawn in my plans to destroy Osborne, insolent spider.” 

 

Spider-Man knew he had to keep the mad scientists attention on him and away from Harry. “What was your beef with poor Goby, Doc Oc? Did he keep stealing your special snacks?”

 

Doc Oc struck at Spider-Man who dodged, moving farther away from where Harry stood. “I told you not to call me that! When I signed the contract with Oscorp I was young and naive. I didn’t realize that they would own all of my ideas, even if I wasn’t working on them during company time. I was going to leave when the accident happened that fused my mechanical arms to my spine. Osborne payed the Doctors to say that I had died and he brought me here. At first I was pathetically grateful when I realized what had happened to me. I wanted to hide from the world that I knew would reject me. Then I realized that I was even more of a slave to Osborne than I had been before. He had no respect for my genius, treating me as a insignificant lackey even as he used my ideas to make himself even richer. I grew to hate him and I swore that I would have my revenge and my freedom.”

 

Doc Oc advanced on Spider-Man punctuating his words with blows that kept the superhero busy dodging. “When you appeared on the scene I knew that you would be the means to destroy Osborne. He never told me who you were but it was obvious that he knew you and from the moment that he discovered that you had developed secret powers from one of his experiments he was obsessed. It was easy to convince him that he should try to replicate your powers for his own use. When I had succeeded in creating the goblin formula I made a small alteration to the final batch, the one he was planning on using. I ensured that the formula would have a psychotropic effect, inducing paranoia. After that it was easy to convince him that you, Spider-Man were out to destroy you. Your rejection of his plans for you and your subsequent escape played right into my hands.”

 

Doctor Octavius turned away from Spider-Man and picked up a remote, pushing a button on it. A screen activated displaying a video of Spider-Man dragging the Green Goblin up the side of the building. “I knew your webs would make capturing Osborne without harming him possible, so I drained your web fluid hopefully leaving you just enough to catch up to him but not capture him. But the best part is that the final thing that killed Osborne was his own request.” The video now showed the Goblin pulling out his boomerang to use on Spider-Man. “He had demanded that I make his outfit resistant to your ability to stick to things. It was a difficult task but I succeeded and so he fell. Of course he expected to be able to call his glider to him and get away but I had taken control of it. I needed it after all, to take this video of his last moments. What good is a revenge that you can't see to enjoy.” The camera followed Norman Osborne’s fall as Dr. Octavius laughed.

 

A cry from Harry attracted Doc Oc’s attention. “I had forgotten that you had brought me a gift, Spider-Man.” He snatched up Harry from where he stood while swatting Spider-Man away with another arm.

 

“Harry Osborne, I remember you. A snot nosed little kid who thought you were better than us because your father was a big man. Your father never shut up about you, he was so proud of his son. Osborne was always going on about how you were going to do great things. He had your whole life planned out. You and that nerdy little friend of yours.” Dr. Octavius started to squeeze Harry. “With your death my revenge will be complete, Norman Osborne’s legacy will be completely destroyed.”

 

“Hey Doc Oc, I wouldn't count your corpses before they're dead!” Spider-Man swung feet first into Doctor Octavius’s back knocking him off his feet and causing him to lose his grip on Harry. Peter quickly spun a web to catch Harry as he fell and then webbed Doc Oc securely to the ground. “Come on Harry, we need to get out of here. That won't hold him for long.” Peter picked up his friend and swung out of the lab.

 

Once the two boys were well away from the hidden lab, Peter stopped on a rooftop to check on Harry’s condition. “A couple of cracked ribs. There doesn't seem to be any other internal injuries.” He said with relief. “We’d better get you to a hospital to get patched up.”

 

“Wait!” Harry gasped. “I'm sorry Pete. You’ve always been there for me and this is how I repay you. I should have listened to you when you tried to convince me that there was more to my father's death than I could see.”

 

“Its OK Harry, you had just lost your father. I know you were really hurting. You also had a lot of unanswered questions and it's not like I could give you any details until I could tell you I was Spider-Man.”

 

“But once I did know I should have given you a chance to explain and I attacked you instead.”

 

“You had a lot of anger and your only target that you could see was Spider-Man. I expected that reaction. In fact I rather welcomed it. I was feeling pretty guilty about your dad's death and I figured I deserved whatever you dished out.”

 

“I guess Doc Oc did us both a favour today then. We now know who is really responsible for Dad’s death so you don’t need to feel guilty about it anymore. And I know that my father was proud of me, even if he never let me know.”

 

“I promise you Harry that I will bring Doc Oc to justice for you.”

 

“I'm not so worried about that now. Doctor Octavius will keep. Capturing him wouldn't bring my father back after all and he's not going to be an easy man to catch. Now maybe we should get to the hospital.”

 

**********************

 

“Happy Birthday Pete,” Harry greeted Peter has he left his bedroom.

 

“Thank you. What are you reading?”

 

“Oh, it's a book on patent law that Mr. Brown brought over. It's really fascinating.”

 

Peter looked over Harry’s shoulder. “I don't know how you can actually enjoy that stuff. It looks really dull.”

 

“You'll be glad that I find it I interesting when you need to patent your inventions. Just think of the applications of your web fluid alone. Once I have control of my money, I'm going to liquidate Oscorp and back your inventions. We can start Parker Enterprises together. With my money and legal expertise and your inventing chops we'll make bank. Gwen can be your assistant and we'll get MJ to do PR for us.”

 

Peter laughed at Harry’s enthusiasm. “She would be good at that,” he agree.

 

Flash poked his head out of the kitchen. “You're keeping the birthday boy from his breakfast, Harry,” he complained. “So what is my role going to be in your future empire.” Flash asked Harry as the two boys passed him.

 

“You will be my personal chef of course. I'll pay your way through culinary school on the condition that you keep cooking for me. I can't face going back to take out after having you and Aunt May to cook for me these past few months.”

 

Aunt May and Uncle Ben came into the kitchen and greeted the birthday boy. “Seventeen years old already,”said Aunt May “Where does the time go.”

 

“What were you boys talking about before we came in?” asked Uncle Ben.

 

Peter explained, “Oh, Harry was just detailing our future. Where do Aunt May and Uncle Ben fit in, Harry?”

 

“They're both going to retire and stay here to keep us in line,” responded Harry.

 

“I'll retire alright, Harry. I'm tired of working nights anyways but I wouldn't advice you to get May to retire. Not unless you all want to be forced to learn yoga,” Uncle Ben joked.

 

“Point taken,” Harry laughed. “Aunt May can keep teaching yoga as long as she wants. I wouldn't want to stop her from doing anything she loves.” Then he turned to Peter. “I'm serious you know. I think we would make a good team. We could really build something worthwhile.”

 

Peter looked at his friend with affection. “I know you are, partner. We do have to finish school first though. I have a lot more to learn if I'm going to do anything worthwhile with my inventions.”

 

Harry smiled back at Peter. “It’s a deal then. Once we finish school Parker Enterprises will be born.” He then turned to Flash. “That goes for you too, Flash. I already talked to Mr. Brown about paying your way through school and he thinks it will be possible. We would have to set it up as a loan but once you were done you could easily make enough as a private chef to pay me back at a reasonable rate of interest. Of course if you do come to work for me I will be willing to match whatever your best offer is, plus some. I will have an investment to recoup after all.”

 

Flash bent over the stove carefully flipping his pancakes. When he turned back to Harry he choked out. “I don't know how to thank you. I will definitely take you up on that offer. I didn't think I had any chance at getting the training I needed to become a real chef.” He quickly turned back to the stove as he struggled to regain his composure.

 

When they were done breakfast Peter looked at the clock. “I’d better get going if I don’t want to be late for storytime,” he said. He then went to his room and emerged as Spider-Man.

 

“Don’t hurry back,” warned Aunt May. “We have a lot to do here before you get back.”

 

“Don’t worry. After Story time with Spider-Man I’m going over to Gwen’s for lunch. Captain Stacy will bring us back and I’m sure you’ve already talked to him about timing. I’ll see you later.” Peter stepped out onto the balcony and swung away.

 

Peter was greeted by a cry of “Hi Spidey-Man!” as he stepped into the library.

 

“Hi Tommy, are you ready for story time?” asked Peter.

 

“Yep, come on!” Tommy grabbed Spider-Man and dragged him over to the reading corner. “Spidey-man is here.” He announced to the kids gathered there.

 

The librarian tried to settle the children down but they were too excited. Peter sat on the chair in front of the children and picked up the book. He looked at it and turned it upside down. The children laughed, “The book’s upside down!” they informed him. Spidey looked up at the children and then down at the book and turned it so it was now right side up and facing the children. They laughed again. “It’s backwards!” they yelled. By this time they were all sitting down and staring at Spider-Man.

 

“That’s OK, kids,” Peter said to them. “I have a secret. Do you want to know what it is? If you do you need to be very quiet so you can hear me whisper it.” The children all quieted down and listened carefully. “I can read upside down,” Spidey whispered. “Would you like to see me do it?” The children yelled, “Yes!!!”

 

“OK. Here goes.” Peter shot a web rope up to the ceiling and hung upside down from it holding the book so that the children could see the pictures and then he started to read. The children sat quietly listening until he got to the end of the book and dropped down from his web. Then they cheered and called for another story. “Alright, one more but I’d better stay right side up for this one. All the blood is rushing to my head and I’m a little dizzy now.”

 

After reading two more stories to the kids Spidey left the library and made his way to Gwen’s house. After pulling his clothes on over his suit in a nearby alley, Peter knocked on the door. Gwen opened it and exclaimed, “Happy birthday, Peter!” She pulled him inside and gave him a birthday kiss.

 

Peter enjoyed his lunch with the Stacy’s although he noticed that Captain Stacy was keeping a close watch on the time. Peter smiled to himself. He couldn't wait to see what his friends had planned for his party. It must be something pretty impressive, they had been planning it for weeks. Shortly after lunch was over Captain Stacy announced that it was time to go. Gwen’s younger brothers complained about not being allowed to go to the party but Mrs. Stacy ushered them out of the room, scolding them for their rudeness, as the the other three left.

 

Peter stopped short when he walked into the condo. “Surprise!” yelled his friends. “What is this?” groaned Peter with a smile. “It looks like Tommy’s third birthday party in here.” Everything was decorated with a Spider-Man theme complete to the Spider-Man napkins on the Spider-Man tablecloth. It was incredibly tacky.

 

“Don’t you like it?” pouted Harry. “You wouldn’t believe how long it took us to find all this stuff. We put a lot of work into it.” He grinned at his friend. It was clear whose idea this was.

 

“I love it!” Peter assured him. “I just need to do one thing.” Peter ducked into his room and emerged wearing his suit. “It’s perfect camouflage. Now you won’t be able to find me,” he joked. “You didn’t need to work so hard to find all this stuff you know. I’m wasn’t kidding when I said this looks exactly like Tommy’s party. You could have gotten most of your decorations from his Mom.”

 

“That wouldn’t have been the same. It was the search that mattered. I was on a quest for the tackiest Spider-Man merchandise I could find. I think I succeeded.” Harry was clearly vastly pleased with himself.

 

Gwen pulled Peter aside. “I never told you how sweet it was that you agreed to go to Tommy’s party as Spider-Man. I bet he was thrilled.”

 

“How could I do otherwise when his Mother told me that he was being teased by the other kids for saying that he was friends with Spider-Man. Besides, it was a ton of fun. That was what gave me the idea for Story time with Spider-Man you know. I had so much fun hanging out with Tommy and his friends that I wanted an excuse to keep doing it.”

 

“It was still sweet,” Gwen murmured as she pulled off his mask and gave him a kiss. Harry whooped, “All right, Peter,” as Peter embraced her and kissed her back. At the other’s laughter the two broke apart and flushed. They had momentarily forgotten that they had an audience.

 

MJ spoke up, “Hey Gwen wait until you hear Harry’s plans for the future. Tell her Harry.” Peter stood by Gwen with his arm around her waist as Harry told her the plans he had been expounding upon that morning. “I’m not sure if I want to do PR for Parker Enterprises,” admitted MJ. “I was thinking about taking some classes in drama, maybe trying to get on broadway.”

 

“No problem, MJ. When you become a famous actor we can have you be the spokesperson for Parker Enterprises instead”, Harry told her. MJ laughed and agreed.

 

“How about you Gwen? What do you think?” Harry asked.

 

“I’m going to be Peter’s assistant, huh. Make that fellow scientist and I think I could live with that. I would love to work with Peter but I will have contributions of my own to make,” Gwen replied leaning into Peter as she spoke.

 

Flash came out of the kitchen bearing a tray of hors d'oeuvres which he put down on the Spider-Man tablecloth. “And here’s my chef,” Harry declared. “Are you ready to join the party, Flash. I think you have enough food prepared to feed an army by now.”

 

“Yep. Everything’s ready. We’re not going to have a sit down meal so I wanted to make sure there were enough finger foods to keep everyone satisfied. Wait until you see the cake.” Flash came over and joined in the conversation as they munched on the goodies he had brought out.

 

Eventually, Aunt May called everyone into the kitchen for the cake. Flash had made a cake decorated with a scene of Spider-Man swinging between two buildings. He had used coloured sugar to make a stained glass effect for the building’s windows and Spider-Man, with fine lines of white icing for the web. It was pretty impressive and everyone exclaimed over it, before singing Happy Birthday to Peter.

 

After the cake was finished the party started to break up and Peter went out onto the balcony with Gwen. As they talked, Peter nudged Gwen and pointed into the living room, visible through the balcony doors. Harry and MJ were quietly talking to each other, standing very close together. As Gwen looked at them MJ leaned in and kissed Harry. “Good for her,” Gwen whispered to Peter. “Harry’s a lucky guy,” responded Peter, “but not as lucky as I am.” Peter then kissed Gwen before donning his mask and diving off of the balcony. He caught a nearby building with his web line and swung away, while Gwen watched him go.

 

It was a quiet night. Spider-Man didn’t encounter anything more difficult than the occasional mugger. He waved at the people on the streets below who noticed him swinging by in the dying light and stopped for a few selfies with a couple who motioned him down with their camera. After patrolling for awhile, Spidey landed on the rooftop of a building to watch the sun set. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. He thought about the events of the past year as he sat and watched the sky. He had been so close to losing everything when Norman Osborne found out who he was. He was determined to not let that happen again. His identity was his most important secret and he needed to protect it carefully but he was glad that his friends and family knew. Keeping them in the dark wouldn’t have made them any safer and this way he knew that they all understood the danger they faced because of him. He had to accept that it was their choice to accept that danger or not, he couldn’t make that choice for them without hurting them. He was glad that they chose to stand by him, he would not betray their trust in him through carelessness but Spider-Man would continue to patrol the streets of New York. As the sunlight faded from the sky leaving the city lit by its multitude of streetlights, Peter swung home. Back to his family who were waiting there for him.


End file.
